In Regards To Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Patricia Jessamy & Crime Stats

Don't Give Me No Broccoli & Tell Me It’s Greens

By A.F. James MacArthur Ph.A.L.

Baltimore has seen no shortage of horrific crimes and human atrocities.  City residents live in daily fear of life and limb, calculating their odds at being the next victim.  A point lost on local politicians. 

My colleague at The Investigative Voice, Stephen Janis, wrote an excellent piece, begging to stop uttering the oft touted “crime is down” refrain, city elected official and the Baltimore Police Department continually attempt to drum into our heads.

They say that statistically, crime is down, but anyone taking this as cause for celebration is part of an exhibit of a classic case, of collective denial.

First off, anyone willing to trust these stated statistics for crime in Baltimore, is either deliberately in denial, or decidedly clueless. I ask you, is this what we want in a State's Attorney?

AN ALTERNATE REALITY FOR POLITICIANS

At this point, it is an indisputable fact that crime has been systematically downgraded and routinely under-reported and even ignored. Not only has this been reported time and time again, as a journalist, I've even had the fortune and fortuitous pleasure of witnessing it myself. So I know it happens.

Larry Gibson, Mrs. Jessamy, Mayor Rawlings-Blake; non of them have spent much time, if any, at active crime scenes. So to put it frankly, when they speak on the issue, in all due respect, they typically don't know what they hell they're talking about.

Showing up at photo-ops and speaking a few empty and shallow words do not count. In Mrs. Jessamy's case, her silence at a community rally in Charles Village – held at the exact spot of the brutal murder of Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn--  was particularly disturbing. It represented a lack of a willingness to take responsibility or to be held accountable. At least Police Commissioner Bealefeld had the balls to say he was "sorry" they [Baltimore Police] "failed to protect" us. For this he will continue to get a level of respect from me.

It is understandable why people like Mayor Rawlings-Blake, Jessamy and others speak the way they do. They live a reality vastly different than the typical Baltimorean. With their chauffeured driven luxury SUV's and full time bodyguards, how fair is it for us to expect them to get it?

DIMINISHED PERSPECTIVE

I invite any of our elected leaders to do a ride along with me as a crime reporter/photographer to see things first hand when all the bloody gore and guts are still out in the open. Before the fire department has hosed it all down and cleaned up.

Accidentally walk into a pool of a victim's blood like I have. See someone's brain matter splattered all over the wall moments after their head was blown off. Smell the sickening, stomach churning, unmistakable, unforgettable, foul stench of a rotting corpse. Then tell me if you feel crime is down. Better yet, tell me if you think this city is safe.



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Message To Bealefeld And Other Whites -- Not All Blacks With Guns Are Bad Guys

After Police Kidnapping, Greater Oversight Demanded

By A.F. James MacArthur Ph.A.L.

NAACP Calling For Investigation Of City Police Actions

Attorney Roland Patterson with NAACP President Marvin ‘Doc’ Cheatham, at a press conference at the Baltimore Branch of the NAACP calling for greater police accountability.

Without probable cause or provocation, plain clothes officers of the Baltimore Police Department snatched Michael Johnson off the street near a playground. The men in the van with tinted windows ordered the 16 year old to get in. If it were not for the nightsticks in their hands or the badges hanging around their necks, the men resembled a group of thugs. Their actions that followed went with the image.

“I’m going to put my night stick up your ass,” said the officer to young Johnson. After Johnson told him he wasn’t going to do anything to him, the officer jumped out, forcibly grabbed him placing him and him headfirst into the van.

After striking Michael Johnson in the leg with the nightstick, the police officer then asked the 16 year old if he had any money. Johnson said no, but they went through his pockets anyhow. They took his cell phone, threw the battery out the window, and broke the phone in half.

The van then proceeded to the highway. “You think we’re playing, we ought to drop you on I-95.” As they continued, an officer said, “you think you’re a tough guy, you’re going to learn some respect!” Referring to an earlier incident in which one of Johnson's associates was similarly accosted, the driver of the van said “You think your friend went some where, wait till you see where you’re going.”

It is unclear why young Johnson was taken to a Howard County park, his shoes and socks removed, and was forcefully thrown out of the van in the rain. What we do know is, after making his way to a gas station and calling 911 on a payphone, Howard County Police eventually responded, took a report, and drove the youth back to Baltimore City.

For a police department with a reputation of abuse, gross misconduct, poor leadership and oversight, the above allegations are disturbing. They represent the latest examples of unprofessional thug like conduct at the hands of members of the Baltimore Police Department, much of which has been personally experienced and witnessed by this writer.

The incident occurred on 4 May 2009. Despite repeated requests and demands, the State’s Attorneys Office nor the Baltimore Police Department has responded to inquiries or comments from this writer.