A Moment With Mencken
To say the Baltimore Police Department has a bad reputation among city residents, is to state the very obvious. Kinda like saying in winter it's cold outside, and sometimes it snows. Or like saying that Governor Martin O'Malley is a two faced, phony jerk, who lied to tax payers more times than even he remembers. Yeah, tell us all something we don't already
know.
On a recent night in the city, a man driving a pickup truck plowed into the back of taxi cab on North Avenue, near Greenmount. The truck was totaled, and the cab also suffered extensive damage. (The Baltimore Spectator obtained photos from the scene)
A supervisor from the taxi company, and Baltimore police were both dispatched to the scene. What happened next should piss off anyone who drives the streets of Charm City.
When Police Refuse To Do Their Job
Accident investigators from the taxi company arrived on scene shortly after the police. Talking to the driver of the truck to gather basic information, the cab company representative detected a strong smell of alcohol on the drivers breath. The representative also noticed the drivers speech was heavily slurred.
When reporting their observations to Officer Ostrander and his partner from the Baltimore Police, company investigators were met with scorn and indifference. "How do you know he's drunk" was the question asked by one cop. Without warning, or conducting their own investigation to determine if a field sobriety test should be conducted, both officers drove away with lights and sirens on. Was it a real call or trying to escape responsibility?
According to Larry Wallace, taxi company supervisor and host of a local talk radio show; at one point the driver of the truck even stumbled on his feet when he tried to get into the pickup truck to get his vehicle registration.
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He says the police mostly stood back, allowing the drivers and company reps to exchange information without intervening.
When the police left without so much as issuing a citation to the pick up driver for rear ending the taxicab, 911 was called again. They were told the suspected drunk driver of a truck that caused an accident was still present on scene, and he should probably be checked out. The dispatcher rudely responded saying, the police cannot be told what to do.
In a few minutes, one of the original officers returned to the scene. The officer angrily confronted the company accident investigators asking them what their problem was. He said he heard they called the Maryland State Police and wanted to know why. After a brief exchange of words, the officer drove off without ever getting out of his car, or even evaluating the
suspected drunken driver.
"I can't tell them how to do their jobs, all I can do is report to them what I see," Wallace said in referrence to the lack of response from the officers on the scene. It's as if Officer Ostrander and his partner couldn't be bothered with the paperwork for an arrest. God forbid they would actually make a DUI arrest and in the process, protect and serve the good
people of Baltimore City.
Meanwhile, the driver of the struck taxicab was taken to the emergency room suffering from a severe neck and back pain, and a massive headache. The pickup driver said he was fine (how typical of these drunks that cause wrecks) and was picked up by a friend and driven away.
In Baltimore, like so many other cities, a lot of people in "the hood" don't like the police. They don't trust them. The reasons for this are far ranging. From routine harassment, to the thousands of false "nuisance arrests that have occurred all over this town. But when the police blatantly and deliberately ignore an obvious threat and danger to the general public, this only serves to further degrade the level of public trust. At this point, the reputation of the Baltimore Police couldn't get much lower.
They have nothing to lose, and the trust and cooperation of the citizens to gain. When this happens, then and only then will we see an increase in the closure rate of the many and continuous unsolved homicides and other crimes.
Commissioner Bealafeld should aggressively seek to rout out the handful of rogue, unprofessional, do nothing officers on the force. The few who make the rest look bad. The return on goodwill from the community would be unmatched.
filed by
T.R. Mencken
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Baltimore Police Department did not respond to requests for comments on this matter. Reports from A.F. James MacArthur and numerous eye witnesses contributed to this piece. We will stay on this story and provide updates as they come up.
Former amateur athlete, retired government scientist and college instructor, Editor In Chief T.R. Mencken can be reached via email at trmencken@gmail.com
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