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Baltimore police incite anger with controversial
riflemike
Member Posts: 10,599 ✭
ruling......why did he have to say "black children" are they the only ones out at night..bad choice of words?..never been there Maybe thats all thats there IDK
By Ian Simpson
(Reuters) - City officials in crime-ridden Baltimore on Tuesday defended plans for one of the toughest U.S. youth curfews against criticism from residents who were skeptical about police enforcement of the new law.
In a forum with residents, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said the measure, set to take effect on Aug. 8, was aimed at getting children off the streets before they were put in danger.
"This is not about criminalizing young black children but to reach them before the only option for them is law enforcement," the mayor told the crowd of about 100 people.
Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said he had sometimes come across children riding bicycles across the city at 3 a.m. When the parents were contacted, they had no idea where their children were, he said.
"They should not be out there, and you should be honest about that," Batts said.
The new curfew in Baltimore, the setting for such gritty television police dramas as "The Wire", will make it a violation for a youth under 14 to be outside their homes after 9 p.m. year-round. Those aged 14 to 16 would be banned from being outside on school nights after 10 p.m. and on other nights after 11 p.m.
Police could take violators to a curfew center, where they and the parents will have access to social services. Parents would have to take city-approved counseling classes and could face a $500 fine for repeat violations, up from the previous $300.
Children younger than 17 can now stay out until 11 on weeknights and until midnight on weekends.
CRITICISM
Many residents at the forum said they opposed the law because police officers were often overly aggressive and failed to investigate crimes.
One man told the mayor: "Youth are a ticking time bomb". He said parents would put their low-wage jobs at risk if they had to leave to pick up their children at a curfew center.
Mayor Rawlings-Blake replied: "Once you decide to be a parent you are a parent 24 hours a day, and when you have difficulties you cannot cast off your responsibility."
The forum at the University of Baltimore Law School was sometimes interrupted by shouts from the crowd. When the session ended, members of a leftist group, Fight Imperialism Stand Together, shouted obscenities and chanted: "No new curfew".
FBI statistics for 2012 show Baltimore, which has about 625,000 people, almost two-thirds of them black, had one of the highest rates of violent crime of any U.S. city, with 218 murders. But there are signs that crime is starting to fall. The mayor's office said homicides for the year so far totaled 116, down 14 percent from the same period last year.
The American Civil Liberties Union, as well as the Fraternal Order of Police, have argued that the tougher curfew will be ineffective and burdens police officers who are given few guidelines about how to enforce it.
The ACLU of Maryland said in a statement that the curfew was more likely to entangle young people in the criminal justice system.
Baltimore is among many U.S. cities with curfews. The U.S. Conference of Mayors reported in 1997 that 80 percent of 347 cities surveyed had nighttime youth curfews.
A 2011 University of California-Berkeley analysis of FBI data showed arrests of youths affected by curfew restrictions fell 15 percent in the first year and about 10 percent in following years.
By Ian Simpson
(Reuters) - City officials in crime-ridden Baltimore on Tuesday defended plans for one of the toughest U.S. youth curfews against criticism from residents who were skeptical about police enforcement of the new law.
In a forum with residents, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said the measure, set to take effect on Aug. 8, was aimed at getting children off the streets before they were put in danger.
"This is not about criminalizing young black children but to reach them before the only option for them is law enforcement," the mayor told the crowd of about 100 people.
Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said he had sometimes come across children riding bicycles across the city at 3 a.m. When the parents were contacted, they had no idea where their children were, he said.
"They should not be out there, and you should be honest about that," Batts said.
The new curfew in Baltimore, the setting for such gritty television police dramas as "The Wire", will make it a violation for a youth under 14 to be outside their homes after 9 p.m. year-round. Those aged 14 to 16 would be banned from being outside on school nights after 10 p.m. and on other nights after 11 p.m.
Police could take violators to a curfew center, where they and the parents will have access to social services. Parents would have to take city-approved counseling classes and could face a $500 fine for repeat violations, up from the previous $300.
Children younger than 17 can now stay out until 11 on weeknights and until midnight on weekends.
CRITICISM
Many residents at the forum said they opposed the law because police officers were often overly aggressive and failed to investigate crimes.
One man told the mayor: "Youth are a ticking time bomb". He said parents would put their low-wage jobs at risk if they had to leave to pick up their children at a curfew center.
Mayor Rawlings-Blake replied: "Once you decide to be a parent you are a parent 24 hours a day, and when you have difficulties you cannot cast off your responsibility."
The forum at the University of Baltimore Law School was sometimes interrupted by shouts from the crowd. When the session ended, members of a leftist group, Fight Imperialism Stand Together, shouted obscenities and chanted: "No new curfew".
FBI statistics for 2012 show Baltimore, which has about 625,000 people, almost two-thirds of them black, had one of the highest rates of violent crime of any U.S. city, with 218 murders. But there are signs that crime is starting to fall. The mayor's office said homicides for the year so far totaled 116, down 14 percent from the same period last year.
The American Civil Liberties Union, as well as the Fraternal Order of Police, have argued that the tougher curfew will be ineffective and burdens police officers who are given few guidelines about how to enforce it.
The ACLU of Maryland said in a statement that the curfew was more likely to entangle young people in the criminal justice system.
Baltimore is among many U.S. cities with curfews. The U.S. Conference of Mayors reported in 1997 that 80 percent of 347 cities surveyed had nighttime youth curfews.
A 2011 University of California-Berkeley analysis of FBI data showed arrests of youths affected by curfew restrictions fell 15 percent in the first year and about 10 percent in following years.
Comments
What about permanently getting rid of the danger the kids face first instead of punishing the kids?
The 14-16 year old age range encompasses many of the shooters and "victims" in this craphole of a city.
The mayor failed to mention the epidemic of pre-teens roaming the downtown areas at night, beating & robbing both locals & tourists.
Neal
Basically it's the theory of Evolution in reverse.
Another law with no consequences.
These animals want to run the zoo, fine, let's build a fence and keep them in.
Parents need to be parents......that would take care of a lot of it.
The other issue in most of these bad situations....the perps of most the shooting, killing and maiming know who did it but that info does not flow easily to the LEO's investigating the situation.
We had a issue going in the county where I worked starting many years ago. I spoke at a community meeting and told a bunch of parents, until you stand up as a community and say no more of this nonsense, you will continue to have these issues with violence and drugs . Most of them blamed everyone except themselves and their kids for what was happening.
I think that's the ones who are causing the problem so why not ID them so as to let citizens elsewhere better understand the issue.
guess i am used to the PC crowd where most would have just said kids.....not black / white..thats all i am glad she said Black..if they are the problem
(Sorry to hear about your South Jersey crime wave. Lol)
quote:Originally posted by kimi
I think that's the ones who are causing the problem so why not ID them so as to let citizens elsewhere better understand the issue.
guess i am used to the PC crowd where most would have just said kids.....not black / white..thats all i am glad she said Black..if they are the problem
I can understand that.
They were at it again overnight. Six shot, one dead. It rivals Chicago only with a population of a little more than 600K it's nowhere near the size. This is EVERY day. Maybe the "curfew" can be made to cover 23 hrs.
Whom would 'they' be?
My bet is some low life white folks considering it's Baltimore.
quote:Originally posted by ChrisStreett
They were at it again overnight. Six shot, one dead. It rivals Chicago only with a population of a little more than 600K it's nowhere near the size. This is EVERY day. Maybe the "curfew" can be made to cover 23 hrs.
Whom would 'they' be?
My bet is some low life white folks considering it's Baltimore.
I agree. You know how those rampaging mobs of Norwegians can get. And don't even get me started on the crazy Swedes of my ancestral homeland. Dang Squareheads.
...ya gotta wonder if they aren't just competing gangs sometimes. BGF is at least out in the open. The corrupt cesspool of city govt. tries to hide it but their actions speak for themselves.
As far as corrupt officials go, Baltimore ranks right up there with New Orleans (maybe worse)
quote:aimed at getting children off the streets before they were put in danger.
What about permanently getting rid of the danger the kids face first instead of punishing the kids?