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Murder Rates Soar In Baltimore As Dejected Police Look The Other Way
Over the past several months, two competing theories have emerged regarding what effect a year of deteriorating race relations has had on law enforcement’s approach to policing America’s cities.
One theory, dubbed the “Ferguson effect”, suggests that police are now less engaged because they fear public scrutiny, prosecution, and, in the worst case scenario, being blamed for inciting the type of social upheaval that led to the riots which left parts of Baltimore in ashes less than two months ago.
A second theory says that if anything, police have become more aggressive, especially as it relates to the use of lethal force. A Washington Post investigation found that police are killing suspects at twice the previous rate in 2015 and The Guardian has now embarked on an ambitious, crowdsourced effort to put a face and a name to every person killed by police in America over the course of this year.
Assessing which theory is correct is difficult, although we would be remiss if we didn’t mention that the so-called ‘Ferguson effect’ relies on anecdotal evidence while the idea that police are killing more people than ever before is simply a matter of statistics. Having said that, The New York Times is out with a new piece which appears to support the notion that, at least in Baltimore, police are scaling back patrols and avoiding high crime areas. Here’s more:
A month and a half after six officers were charged in Mr. Gray’s death, policing has dwindled in some of Baltimore’s most dangerous neighborhoods, and murders have risen to levels not seen in four decades. The totals include a 29-year-old man fatally shot on this drug corner last month. Police union officials say that officers are still coming to work, but that some feel a newfound reluctance and are stepping back, questioning whether they will be prosecuted for actions they take on the job..
At least 55 people, the highest pace since the early 1970s, have been murdered in Baltimore since May 1, when the state’s attorney for the city, Marilyn J. Mosby, announced the criminal charges against the officers. Victims of shootings have included people involved in criminal activity and young children who were simply in the wrong place..
At the time of her announcement, Ms. Mosby’s charges were seen as calming the city. But they enraged the police rank and file, who pulled back. The number of arrests plunged, and the murder rate doubled. The reduced police presence gave criminals space to operate, according to community leaders and some law enforcement officials.
The soaring violence has made Baltimore a battleground for political arguments about whether a backlash against police tactics has led to more killings in big cities like New York, St. Louis and Chicago, and whether “de-policing,” as academics call it, can cause crime to rise..
Still, the speed and severity of the police pullback here appear unlike anything that has happened in other major cities. And rather than a clear test case, Baltimore is a reminder of how complicated policing issues are and how hard it can be to draw solid conclusions from a month or two of crime and police response.
The Times does go on to note that, at least in the case of Baltimore, it's difficult to determine whether the dramatic increase in violence is attributable to less policing or stems from the fact that thanks to the looting that took place during the riots, there are now nearly 160,000 doses of perscription opiates available for sale on the street which could very well be contributing to a spike in violent crime.
For example, police commanders here attribute the spike in violence in large part to a unique factor: a flood of black-market opiates stolen from 27 pharmacies during looting in April, enough for 175,000 doses now illegally available for sale.
They say drug gangs are now oversupplied with inventory from the looting, resulting in a violent battle for market share from a finite base of potential customers. Gangs sell a single OxyContin dose for $30, twice what they get for a dose of heroin, said Gary Tuggle, a former Baltimore police officer who was the head of the city’s Drug Enforcement Administration office until this month.
For better or worse, one is certainly inclined to believe that law enforcement in America has entered a new era in which every traffic stop, arrest, and detention will be scrutinized and picked apart for evidence of racial profiling, excessive force, or any other perceived betrayal of the public trust.
What that means for public safety remains to be seen. If advocates of the 'Ferguson effect' are correct, crime rates could rise as police disengage and scale back their disretionary use of force. On the other hand, some suggest that hightened scrutiny will save innocent lives, increase accountability, and ultimately lead to better policing which will not only decrease crime rates, but help to establish trust between authorities and the public.
In the final analysis, it could be that the entire debate misses the point. As long as the social conditions that plague high crime communities are not addressed, no amount of 'good' or 'bad' policing can save the country.
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Good column, but curious last line. How exactly do we address the social ills of such communities? You will get a lot of different viewpoints there. A change in AA culture is what is really needed, not sure if public policy can do anything about that.
How do we address the social ills? Give anyone over ten years old, that wants it, ten grand in cash, no tax, for getting neutered.
Nuke Baltimore from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
You want the cops out of your hair inner city, racist folks? You got it!
If police can be put to the rack for clearly lawful actions vis a vis FerguStanians and the like, you think your use of a firearm in defense of you and yours isn't just that much easier to send to prison or at best bankrupt you for life paying for your legal defense? Or you'll hesitate just long enough to get murdered or at best beaten into a coma? No, the winds of change are here and now.
Nationalization of police. right on track.
http://moonbattery.com/?p=57976
When American White's still had the character and backbone to be Klansmen and States enforced segregation laws this never happened. Which is the more preferable ? I prefer it when White's are in charge - but, alas - the Great American Boomers don't and didn't - so welcome to chaos.
Most blacks had dignity under segregation...the self imposed type.
The city leaders of Baltimore need to arrange a public event where everyone can gather together in a park, hold hands, and sing Kumbaya. I'm sure that will fix everything.
If people were allowed to use their right to self defense and unafraid to do so this would not be a problem. Cops have never been likely to stop your murder, rather they show up to begin your murder investigation. People should not just be defending themselves, we should be defending eachother.
Well said...
It saddens me to see people look the other way when they see someone in danger because they are afraid to get involved.
One of many points I try to drill into my 7yo daughter's head is to NEVER pick on others and to ALWAYS help others when they are in danger or being picked on.
We need more humanity in the world and the courage to stand up to protect our fellow man...
http://www.gunnews.com/nj-woman-killed-awaiting-gun-permit/
Cui Buono ???..... Seems like a lot of fuckers.
Seriously, did anyone with half a brain not see this coming? The black leaders on the left (Jackson, Sharpton etc) love it as they can cash in even more. The ones on the right (Carson, Thomas etc.) are feeling shame at how their race is behaving. The left only sees this as a way to gain more power, so what if a few (millions?) have to die. This is classic Marxist behaviour on their way to creating the socialist utopia, which of course is only a utopia for those at the top.
Since when did cops prevent inner-city shootings? These things are either domestics, dope deals gone bad, or groups of young men with ongoing tit-for-tat rivalries. It's not criminal masterminds. It's not organized, professional crime. It's not people who would realize the cops are pulling a "You'll be sorry when I run away!!!" paid strike and take advantage. Despite the ongoing narrative, with all its racial undertones, it's not opportunistic predators. They're mostly dumb young men with a lot of testosterone and very little impulse control or long-range planning skills.
The people who shoot each other in our inner cities do it whether the cops are there or not. I have no trouble believing a few hundred thousand doses of pharmaceutical narcotics would spark a turf war or a stickup or two.
Before the Rodney King riots the only group which would provide a merchant class (corner grocery) for the black LA hoods were the Asians,principally the Koreans.They tried very hard to establish good relations with the locals and also with LAPD. Once the troubles began they were caught between rocks: the locals wouldn't provide defense to their hard worked for business establishment and the LAPD withdrew from the area,partly due to a lack of leadership. Reports also said that the LAPD were confiscating cars with trunks full of guns and ammo,driven by Koreans attempting to run roadblocks and support their trapped and besieged families.Their good relations with the LAPD took some time to mend after this issue arose.It is also the case that obtaining Arson insurance coverage for these zip codes is difficult and expensive.In short,you have an area which can any moment erupt into organized violence,the population is unemployed or on assistance,gang activity,and a very thin profitability base.
Also the oldest black owned bookstore went up in smoke during the troubles.Sad business,but I wonder what MLK would've said?
"Where is the nearest whitening facility?"
Baltimore is a working example of Adam Smith’s creative destruction. Baltimore is a text book example of free market principles.
When "Escape from New York" came out, I thought it was science fiction. Now, I'm not so sure.
1) "Ferguson Effect"
2) More aggressive police
I submit a third option, a corrolary to the Ferguson effect. The criminal element is emboldened by recent breeches of the peace in response to police actions. The mere perception that the police will use kid gloves lessens the expected cost of doing crime whether or not the police actually are. A spike in violence in the short term cannot be responded to aggressively which gives the impression that it is spiraling out of control which completes the feedback loop and vibrant urban areas become self licking ice cream cones.
I'm not so sure we can simply call them the "criminal element." NGO's, SEUI, ACORN, DoJ conciliation specialists, Baltimore City gov't and media outlets are actively courting these people. Holder's DoJ sent federal employees to organize them. Remember the Cripps/Bloods/Black Guerrilla Family were publicly defended by City gov't who of course have direct links right into the DemParty and the WH. None of these events occur in a vacuum.
The problem is not the police looking the other way way. The problem is a black woman Mayor and a black woman Prosecutor who are filing charges when they don't. The women involved are simply not qualified for their jobs.
Say what? They are black and they are women, what other qualifications would be needed?
how about a brain and no black political agenda?
ZWO divide and conquer on the ascendancy.
Some REALLY great posts on this article! Bravo!
What we are seeing in Baltimore is that there are a LOT of REALLY bad and nasty people out there. Drugs, robberies, murders, etc. A 'good cop' cannot handle them. A 'bad cop' can handle them - often with extraordinary means - but the 'bad cop' has lost the ability to differentiate between the Nasties and the regular people on the street.
This cannot end well!
Here's an updated Norman Rockwell portrait of Amerikan life...
https://goodbyeamericainaphoto.wordpress.com/2015/06/12/missing-from-nor...
And you dumb fucks thought things would get better under Obama
Wall them off and introduce hunger games. And may the best man, woman or child win.
Hahahaha what a pile of bullshit USA is. Sadly it seems we're heading in the same direction here in europe.
Police still busy busting people for speeding while gangcrime and murder is skyrocketing due to the massive middleast/african immigration.
Why again would we want that? Multiculture obviously didnt work out well for the USA..
Media and politicians responsible will get their punishment, if not now then in their next life.
what to invest more money in
.
education or sickness
.
eradicate gangs take care of your family best you can, don't expect the cops to show up in black helicopters to help
WHERE ARE THE BODY CAMS. A cop either wants to protect his actions OR NOT. If I were a cop I would not go to work without one.
Body cams are mega expensive. Especially the storage and maintenance part.
Racist trash negro Obama and the Chosenite media lie to their pet negroes to stir them up so Obowelmovement can get his national police force?
It's just a coincidence that Al Sharpcoon started calling for a national police force three days after Obama's sons started going ape.....
Here is a third theory. The economy sucks. Cities are rusting out and have been for years. Folks are underemployed or unemployed for the long term - they are increasingly desperate and without hope or courage. Food stamps/snap cards are OK - but they are soul destroying and teach dependancty. Even the dumbest foks get the message that the govt appears to be working mainly for the rich and only throws a few table scraps to the poor now and again.
Law and order are breaking down because the increasingly poor classes (white, black and other) have lost hope and hate the govt.
Police, for better or for worse, are all they see of the govt on any given day.
As Kurt Vonnegut might have said: So it goes.....
Whiny tax parasites and their cuntbag union throwing a tantrum because they are being taken to taske for torturing a man so badly that he fucking died...
FUCK THE POLICE AND ALL COPS ARE BASTARDS
Down vote that you bootlicking cocksucker.
1. Any chance there is a correlation between economic stagnation and crime?
2. Was Baltimore the plae where th mayor gamed the crime stats to make the cuty look safer to voters? Any chance they are fucking with the stats again?
Only mention it because i could see police inaction resulting in an increase in UNSOLVED HOMICIDES but not an increase in mueders themselves.
The cops were never arriving just in time to break up a murder in progress.
Let them kill each other. Problem solved.
Man has heart attack because tax parasites who obstensibly supposed to be fighting "crime" are now in the business of choking people to death for "allegedly" selling loose cigarettes ,.... which is a matter of taxation....not public safety, jackass.
Just get in the boxcar, Jew....this is your fault for resisting.
Man has heart attack because tax parasites who obstensibly supposed to be fighting "crime" are now in the business of choking people to death for "allegedly" selling loose cigarettes ,.... which is a matter of taxation....not public safety, jackass.
Just get in the boxcar, Jew....this is your fault for resisting.
And let me guess...most of those killed or have done the killing are black. But hey, blacks never do anything and the police just pick on them because they're evil racists.