Murderer Allowed To Escape With City Police 1 Block Away
By A.F. James MacArthur Ph.A.L.
Managing Editor
Officers are supposed to be sworn to protect and serve. What was once boldly declared on the side of police cars, seems to no longer exist in word or deed. Often, the priorities of the police seems to be at odds with serving the greater good of the public. In the case of one particular Baltimore Police officer, we’ll take a closer look. Was he protecting the public, or boosting his arrest statistics?
Around 2:00AM on 9 May 2009, Officer J. Cenatus of the Baltimore Police Department was on routine patrol. Approaching the 2000 block of Robb St, he detected a strong odor of marijuana. He spotted a young male who seemed to be smoking and appeared to be acting in a suspicious manner on the porch of a vacant house.
Deciding to investigate, Ofc. Cenatus pulled up to the scene and approached the male to commence a search. It should be noted that in the official police report, filled with numerous grammatical and common spelling errors, obtained by The Baltimore Spectator, the officer notes the area as one known for heavy narcotics activity and a recent prior shooting.
Ofc. Cenatus searched the suspect and found a small roach of suspected marijuana, and a tiny vial containing a pill of a suspected controlled drug substance. In Baltimore drug arrests are a dime a dozen. With most arrests being petty possession and or use, one wonders who is truly being protected or served when our jails, courts, and ultimately prisons are filled with non violent drug offenders.
Fate would have it, on this night, Officer Cenatus would have one of the greatest opportunities for public praise, departmental commendation, and internal bragging rights, but he blew it! A rare opportunity to truly serve and protect the public was thrown away in favor of an easy “gimme” drug arrest. Another stat to add to his record.
While awaiting the “paddy wagon” to transport the now arrested drug suspect, a male with the initials “DB'” and a birth date of 29 January 1987, multiple shots were heard fired at a close range to where to officer and DB were standing. Officer Cenatus was visibly afraid and begun to physically shake and tremble. DB, the suspect pleaded to be let go and encouraged the officer to investigate the shooting, pointing out, that there was probably someone hurt who could use some help. Unsure whether the shooting was directed at him, or an unknown target, Cenatus failed to take action of any kind.
On his two way radio, the officer called in the shots fired, but made no attempt to investigate or ascertain where it came from, who was the shooter, and if there were any victims. Nope, he had a drug arrest in custody, and in his mind, this was much more important than actually making an attempt at possibly apprehending a shooter.
In a city filled with violence and murder, it’s rare luck that a shooting happens within earshot of a police officer. So close, just one block over to be exact. The least bit of effort on the part of this officer would have led to so much information on the shooting. From a description of a possible fleeing suspect or vehicle tag numbers, to God forbid, actually capturing the perp and solving a homicide, admittedly a rare occurrence in Baltimore.
Could instances like this be why we are so behind on fighting crime? When an officer feels he’s done his job in serving and protecting the community because he arrested a person using drugs but a shooting goes uninvestigated, something’s truly wrong.
Sadly, while the officer was awaiting the prisoner transport, Christopher Ricks lay on the sidewalk bleeding out and dying, there was no one to help him. If only Officer Cenatus would have done SOMETHING to investigate, perhaps there’d be more progress on the case. He was right there for God’s sake.
It should be noted that in Officer Cenatus’ report, he acknowledged hearing the gunshots and doing nothing except proceeding with his drug arrest. He also proudly states in his summary that he has over 40 hours of training in narcotics and has made numerous drug arrests. Maybe that’s the problem right there. As I've said before, way too much time spent focusing on the wrong things.
So let’s see, drug arrest, or catching a killer, which do you think should have been a higher priority?
NOTE: Christopher Ricks, age 32, was shot and killed on the 2000 block of Kennedy Avenue on 9 May, 2009, he was Baltimore’s 80th homicide victim this year. As of this writing, there have been 96 homicides in Baltimore City. A new FBI report on crime data shows Baltimore to be number one for murders among large cities in the U.S. How charming.
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With years of practical, theoretical and academic experience in criminal justice and criminology, A.F. James MacArthur is a frequent commentator on crime and justice. As a front line member of law enforcement, MacArthur has took part in numerous drug raids, search warrants and investigative operations resulting in innumerable arrests and apprehensions. After leaving uniformed duty, MacArthur focus on the apprehension of wanted fugitives, with a specialty in cold cases. A one time college level instructor, MacArthur has been recently selected as a lead instructor for the soon to be chartered Baltimore Urban Institute. Currently MacArthur is a consultant and contract Special Investigator.
3 comments:
Sir, you have no idea of the procedures and guidelines that are set forth for officers in regard to arrest and officer safety. Officer Cenatus did what he was trained to do point blank. There are so many things wrong with the actions you suggested Officer Cenatus take. All of which are against departmental policy firstly, but more importantly against common sense. An officer does not respond to a shooting without backup. Had he simply let "DB" go he could potentially have become a victim himself. Who's to say that the shooter a block over wasn't an associate of "DB"? Officer Cenatus does not police to rack up "stats". I've worked shoulder to shoulder with the guy and can tell you he does his JOB because that's the type of officer he is. He takes pride in locking up the drug scum and gang bangers that have taken this once proud city into an abyss of murder, junkies, and despair. I'll never forget the words that came out of his mouth one early morning when it appeared that even the lowest of the low was fast asleep. He had just stopped a cab driver that he had observed arguing with a female passenger and had turned the wrong way on a one way street. A fellow (sleepy) officer asked him if he was trying to save the world and he replied banging his fist on the top of the car "I come here to WORK. I don't come to work to be lazy. I dont care what time in the morning it is".
Besides the weed, that "tiny pill" you attempt to make downplay was a gelcap filled with heroin. Heroin no matter how small the amount taken off someone, is the one drug that single handedly destroyed this city. There is no minimizing heroin. I'm not sure what your beef is with the police in Baltimore or the story behind it but your attitude might change if you had simply asked officer Cenatus to explain to you why he handled the situation the way he did. You'd realize that it has NOTHING to do with stats but EVERYTHING to do with officer safety. Those two words are the most important in a police officers vocabulary and dictate whether an officer goes home to his family every day. And to belittle a man for hearing shots so close to him but not knowing where in the darkness of the Eastern District they came from is shameful. How would YOU react to not knowing if you were the target of said shots? How about you request a ride-along on the evening or midnight shift in sector 1 of the Eastern and see how cool and calm you stay? Oh and one more thing, before you go passing judgement you might want to check YOUR "grammatical and common spelling errors"in the second and sixth paragraphs of your posting.
Obviously, it's more importantant to the cop to screw up someone's life ( Blackman ) with a drug arrest , than to save a life. ( Blackman's )
This coward officer has made it clear, he is brave enough to harass , er... arrest a non violent offender , but to much of a coward to do what he is paid to do. ( Protect & Serve.
Further proof that illegal drugs fuel the white economy.
( >>>>>>Betting left nut this coward is white. )
Verdict: Fire this pu$$y@$$ cop's B3tch@$$!
thank you Mr. MacArthur.
The way to destroy evil is to drag it into the light. This is the reason Baltimore Police is now Baltimore Secret Police. They can not take the light. Like demons and vampires the light weakens and kills them.
The Billyfield crime family, the Mistresses of Murder, and their Negro flunkies are waging a relentless war on straight Black men. By positively identifying them and the acts of cowardice and crimality they perpetrate you are letting the sunshine in.
A STAKE THRU THE HEART KILLS ONE VAMPIRE.
TEARING THE ROOF OFF AT HIGH NOON DESTROYS EVERY THUG, HOOKER, HARLOT, RAPIST, AND MURDERER IN A BALTIMORE SECRET POLICE UNIFORM.
KEEP UP THE GOOD FIGHT!
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