A pandemic sped city’s push toward fewer arrests
It didn’t quell murders, even if crime did slow in 2020
In a year defined by the coronavirus pandemic, Baltimore experienced steep drops in most crime categories, amid a plunging number of arrests and increases in pretrial and post-conviction detention releases.
Yet one of Baltimore’s signature problems — the high rate of killings and shootings — continued in 2020.
Are the 30% drops in categories such as robberies and property crimes a mirage, driven by lack of opportunities with more people indoors and working from home? Does the effort to all but eliminate arrests for lower-level offenses show that the city can continue not prosecuting such cases without an increase in crime?
Some local officials are heartened to see that fewer arrests have not produced a crime increase. But some neighborhood leaders expressed frustration with the level of crime and said they wanted more enforcement.
Police Commissioner Michael Harri
“Going out there and doing what was done before and snatching up anybody who looks like me, as was done before, has never reduced crime and was always wrong,” said the mayor, who is Black and 36 years old.
“It’s about solely focusing in on those folks who are the trigger pullers, who we know are ordering hits on people, who we know don’t care if it’s a woman, child, senior citizen. Those are the people who we have to focus on.”
Scott is also planning a data- driven approach to his pledge to govern with equity. Under the direction of Dana Moore, who Scott has nominated to shift from acting city solicitor to the city’s first chief equity officer, Scott said he envisions the development of equity score cards to assess how agencies across the city are doing, from hiring to delivering basic city services in a more equitable fashion. Scott said he expects to make the resulting data publicly available.
“It’s about making sure neighborhoods like Cherry Hill, like Park Heights, like Madison get the services they need, but also thinking about how they’ve been denied capital investment. Thinking about how the city’s capital budget has only really been spent in wealthy, white neighborhoods,” he said.
“I’m not in a four-year term going to reverse all of Baltimore’s inequities. But somewhere, someone has to start a foundation,” he added.
Moore’s nomination to lead the equity efforts isn’t the only major staffing move Scott has made in his first weeks in office. He’s put forward Christopher J. Shorter’s nomination for the city’s new administrator position and tapped Jim Shea, his former running mate on a 2018 Democratic gubernatorial ticket, as city solicitor. Shea is chairman emeritus of the Venable law firm in Baltimore.
Shea’s selection raised eyebrows among some as he, a white man, would replace Moore, the city’s first female solicitor. Scott said the move was about assembling the best possible team.
“WeknowJimis a heck of a lawyer, one of the most revered lawyers or feared lawyers in the state and city, depending on what side of the bench you were sitting on,” he said. “It’s about putting your best people in place, and also knowing what Jim ultimately wants is to be in that position, build the office up so he can leave it to someone young, someone African American, a woman who can take that position.”
Scott’s cabinet nominations will face confirmation hearings before City Council in the new year.
That’s also when he’ll have his first formal meeting with Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. Scott said he plans to address public safety in Baltimore. Hogan will hear from a mayor who understands the intricacies of public safety policy from his time on council and as a council staffer, Scott said.
Scott said the difference in party affiliation between he and the governor means little to him, but he also said he wouldn’t hesitate to tell Hogan if he’s wrong. In the past, Hogan has made some “shortsighted” and “misinformed” decisions about the city, Scott said, citing the governor’s decision to cancel the construction of the Red Line, a long-planned east-west light rail line.
“I don’t care who you are, I will not allow anyone to ignore Baltimore, or not treat Baltimore with the respect it deserves,” Scott said.
“My hope is I’m able to lead in a different way and give him the always unbiased truth and facts, and show him that leadership in Baltimore can move in the right direction,” Scott said.