Theory of Rudy

//JW's Desknote: Baltimore has tried in vain to implement same Rudy G. crime fighting theories, but there is a lack of general support throughtout the system. This is unfortunate for Baltimore; which will continue to impede the City's progress and further reinforce its stance as an unsafe city...More to follow.// JW sends.

Crackdown on Dealers, not Cops
Thursday, September 16, 2004 - Chip Franklin

Mayor Giuliani’s rise to national prominence came on the heels of 9/11, but it was before that fateful day that Rudy made his mark.

New York city’s reputation as a teeming jungle of crime and filth has been turned around, but it didn’t magically transform overnight. Rudy Giuliani changed the city the only way you can, from the street corners where it all begins. Beggars, con artists, squeegees, dealers, pimps, shady porno shops, public urination, loitering and the ilk became persona non grata. The city that never sleeps became a city that sweeps. And caught up in the net of filth were all of the aforementioned, much to the chagrin of the politically correct and political opposition. But the people of New York were ready for this, and embraced the actions and the mayor who brought the city out of the shadows and into the light of economic hope.

Now spring-forward a decade, head two hundred miles south, and you have our city, which has attracted not one former New York cop, but two. First Chief Norris, now Clark. Mayor O’Malley, apparently infatuated with Giuliani’s success, brought them to Baltimore, but to put it mildly, had less than successful results. Even after juggling numbers, the fact remains that sections of the city are no mans land.

So now Commissioner Clark is trying to institute here some of the procedures that worked in the big apple. But city prosecutors aren’t following thru. In May and June, prosecutors tossed out more than three-quarters of the citations because according to City State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy, police either wrote them improperly or provided insufficient evidence.

"Why continue to do something if it's not having the intended result?" Jessamy asked. That’s a fair question. But maybe it is working.

Clark has urged the police to hit the streets and make the day miserable for the punks that think the city belongs to them, instead of the hard working people trying to live in these neighborhoods. The number of citations has jumped more than 300 percent for offenses such as loitering, open alcohol-container violations and public urination. Sounds familiar.

According to Today’s Sun, Clark says that police can issue the citations and continue patrolling the streets without making time-consuming arrests. Even if the citations are dismissed, he says, the offenders are forced to appear in court because they don't know of the dismissal in advance. That requirement to show up in court serves as a deterrent, he says. Police issued more than 20,000 such citations last year and will write about as many this year. What this accomplishes is disruption to the dealers in these neighborhoods. It makes it harder for them to ply their trade. It forces addicts to go elsewhere; more importantly allows honest people in those areas to live their lives. That is, when the city council lets them. Remember the Baltimore city council voted unanimously opposed the police rousting juveniles, even when they were participating as “police watchouts” in these drug infested neighborhoods.

I like these crackdowns, and Jessamy shouldn’t be trying to thwart their efforts, but instead she should be working with the cops to cross the T’s and dot the I’s. But maybe the city council and even the City States attorney’s office have reasons why they are backing off. I can only guess as to why the city council, many still under investigation by federal prosecutors, would want the city run by dealers instead of citizens, as evidenced by their votes for stymieing police efforts. It would have anything to do with money would it?

This city deserves better.

WBAL Radio
http://wbal.com/