COVERITLIVE.COM

12:53

Justin Fenton - I'm having a live chat at 2 p.m. to discuss this week's coverage of continuing violence between feuding drug organizations (see link below). You can submit questions ahead of time here

1:32	Justin Fenton - We've got less than 30 minutes to get some more questions in. There's been a few developments today to discuss, but I must caution that I will have to be careful with some of my comments, as the case remains open

1:58	Justin Fenton - Hi and welcome. We've got a few questions lined up, so I'll tackle those first

1:58

[Comment From Tom B ]
Justin, Great idea to have this chat, as a member of the Baltimore Police Department and you a crime reporter I want your honest opinion, do you think the current level of funding to the BPD is adequate to deal with all the challenges that we face? I understand that Baltimore is a poor city but when I look at the fact that our equipment is so sub standard, lack of computers for warrant checks, vehicle checks, protection orders etc, the cars that are constantly down to be repaired, the lack of vehicles, I'm not even talking salaries, that's a whole different issue in itself. I just want your honest opinion, sometimes it is hard to be objective when your on my side of the badge. My point being is that maybe it is time for the mayor and commissioner to attempt to explain to everyone the realistic expectations of what the BPD can do with it's current level of funding.

1:59

Justin Fenton - Tom, this seems like more of a comment than a question, but the point is well taken. The city, like most big cities, will always struggle with this issue given budget constraints, and the crisis with the economy certainly isn't helping. But the city has tried to prioritize public safety - the police department was the only major agency in the city that didnt take a budget cut last year, and they just received $10 million in stimulus funds to add more officers

2:00

[Comment From kevin ]
what will it take for law enforcement and our elected officials to get tough on crime? it's so annoying to hear dixon tell people "to step up" when that will never happen. and bealefeld is a joke. he wants us to believe that crime is going down and just look at last weekend and all the crime in mt vernon. it's time for a clean sweep of our elected officials at the next election.

2:02

Justin Fenton - Dixon is largely referring to the residents and family members who have information that can help police solve these crimes. But the "Stop Snitching" culture is more than a DVD, and its not going to be resolved easily
As far as crime being down, some types of crime are clearly down, I think its just that incidents such as this weekend or the shooting of Raven Wyatt earlier this month make it hard to believe that could be true

2:02	[Comment From JDUBS ] and why do community organizers and church groups only show up on sunday mornings? why is baltimoer city filled with hyprocritical politicians and organizers who dont and wont handle their community's respective problems?

2:04	Justin Fenton - Those community groups are out there, they just dont always get the media attention. Part of the problem is that they're typically speaking to people who share their message of non-violence, and not getting through to those responsible for the mayhem.

2:05

[Comment From blarg ]
I am disappointed in the recent violence, including the incident involving the youth on home detention. However, when these events happen, people often instantly decide we are on the wrong track, and that zero tolerance is the way to go. Statistics prove that community oriented policing like Boston and San Diego is just as effective, if not more effective than zero tolerance like NYC. It also doesn't violate civil rights like zero tolerance, and doesn't lead to further distrust of the police. What can we do in instances like these to prove that community based strategies are still the answer, despite the knee-jerk reaction to change our ways to a proven-flawed method of policing?

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