Arrests Fall, Murder Booms in Baltimore

2015/5/21-Murders in one part of town are up 200 percent, shootings 800 percent, but police are locking up fewer people.
Baltimore logged its 100th murder of the year on Thursday morning, hitting the milestone after recording more than a murder per day in the month following Freddie Grayā€™s death.

The massive increase in homicide, shootings, and violent crime comes as arrests have plummeted to their lowest levels all year. In the week before Gray died, 682 people were arrested. In the last week of available data, 339 people were arrested.

Police Arrest Almost No One on Baltimoreā€™s Bloody West Side
Citywide arrests for the past three months. (Illustration by The Daily Beast)

The Western District, where Gray was arrested, is the center of the crime boom. Homicides are up 200 percent compared to this time last year; non-fatal shootings have risen 800 percent; robberies of varying types 100 to 300 percent.

Despite more crime, there are far fewer arrests in the district. In fact, at least three days in May saw no arrests.

Baltimore Stats
Western District arrests for the past three months. (Illustration by The Daily Beast)

Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said Wednesday that thereā€™s been no work slowdown like what happened in New York afterĀ two police officers were slain in February.

ā€œOur officers are not holding back,ā€ he said. ā€œOur officers are working hard and making significant arrests.ā€

Batts blamed crowds in the Western District for the lack of effective policing.

ā€œIt makes it very difficult to follow up on violence that takes place there,ā€ BattssaidĀ on Thursday. ā€œTheyā€™re getting to those locations and getting surrounded. You have many citizens with hand-held cameras that theyā€™re sticking in the faces of officers, an inch off the officerā€™s face.ā€

A community activist toldĀ The Baltimore SunĀ that Battsā€™ excuse is weak.

ā€œWhat Batts is worried about is that people are more aware and more willing to hold police accountable in the Western District,ā€ said Deray McKesson. ā€œItā€™s a scary day in America when a chief of police says people are watching us and we canā€™t do our jobs.ā€

 

Source: The Daily Beast

Justin Miller & Katie Zavadski

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Press Release

MS NAACP opposes NCAA Tournament Hosted at Ole Miss

Click Here to Read

Follow Us on Twitter