As homicides and shootings have soared in Baltimore this year, so too has the number of people shot by city police officers as the department struggles to curtail a surge in violence on the streets.
Three shootings last week brought the number of people shot by officers this year to 24, including nine fatally, higher than in each of the four previous years. In 2006, city officers shot 15 people, five of them fatally. In 2005, officers shot 14, including four fatally, and in 2004, police shot eight people, killing one of them.
Police officials give several possible explanations for the increase, pointing to more gang activity and brazen criminals, and officers being pushed to arrest more known violent offenders to curtail homicides.
"No one's pleased by the number of officer-involved shootings," said city police spokesman Sterling Clifford. "But given the circumstances, I don't think anyone is surprised as the police focus more on gun crimes and violent criminals."
Comparing police-involved shootings in Baltimore with other cities is difficult. These incidents, unlike other crime-related incidents, are not tracked by the federal government, and several cities contacted by The Sun said a formal written request is required before such information is released.
"That's something we have been fighting for decades," said Geoffrey P. Alpert, a professor at Washington State University. "Why isn't there a national reporting system? Most departments collect the data, but there's no repository."
In Baltimore, there has been no outcry from the community over the number of shootings involving police officers, and a department spokesman said that none of this year's cases has been questionable. But Clifford said the increase is "being looked at closely" by department commanders to determine whether training or use-of-force guidelines need to be updated or changed.
Alvin O. Gillard, director of the city's Community Relations Commission, said an independent civilian review board that examines police conduct has received one complaint about an officer-involved shooting in the past two years.
"To date, the board has not discussed or made a decision to look at the overall use-of-force policy as it relates to the police-involved shootings thus far this year," Gillard said.
In seven of this year's nine fatal shootings, the suspect was carrying a gun, police said. In the other two incidents, which took place last week, one man tried to stab his brother; and another man tried to grab the officer's gun.
