Predictably, crime is spiking in Baltimore, in what some critics say is an intentional law enforcement “slowdown” by officers bitter about the Freddie Gray prosecutions of six of their finest.
“It’s extremely frustrating,” complained Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake on Thursday. “It is disheartening, but I am still resolved to continue to reduce violent crime in our city.”
It’s not clear how she’ll achieve that lofty goal, however, if police are reluctant to stick out their necks to protect the Baltimore citizenry who, it seems, have learned the hard way the true meaning of being “careful what you wish for.”
Weeks of violent protests, arson, and rioting after Gray’s in-custody death this April, combined with direct orders from city hall to limit arrests, have now resulted in a tepid -- if not timid -- approach to patrolling the still-beleaguered metropolis.
As a consequence, Baltimore’s homicide rate in 2015 has climbed more than 30-percent and nonfatal shootings to nearly 70-percent, while, simultaneously, the number of arrests for all types of criminal activities has fallen an estimated 22-percent … so far.
Cops are hired to enforce the law, so deliberately shirking their policing duties for any reason is almost as bad as habitually relying on excessive force for keeping the peace.
On the other hand, they’re in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario these days, with both good cops and bad cops alike hesitant to interact with the perpetrating public, for fear of reprisals or, worse, indictments and jail time themselves.
And the fact that cop killings nationwide have doubled in recent years is another truly daunting statistic that’s not helping to resolve the stalemate.