April 17, 2010|By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun
"I can't help but be concerned that we suffered a big setback with the death of Leon Faruq," Bealefeld said during an appearance on WYPR. "They have not really come back the way and functioned the way they had under Leon's leadership. These are great programs, but they're so completely dependent on dynamic leadership."
Bond praised Carter's leadership, saying he has been a key force from the very beginning and has assembled a reliable team. Both forcefully deny any connections to the man federal court papers identify as a BGF leader in charge of the program.
Outbreak of violence
On a cool, damp Thursday night recently, Carter stood alone on the sidewalk behind yellow police tape as officers finished up at a crime scene where two teenagers had just been shot. He was on the phone, incredulous.
"This is crazy, man," he said. "This stuff is getting ridiculous."
About an hour earlier, Carter and other violence interrupters walked through the same block to condemn a shooting from three days earlier, marching with bullhorns and calling for a stop to the violence. No sooner had he settled back into his office when police cruisers and ambulances screamed by in response to the double-shooting, in the same spot.
Carter stayed on the phone trying to find out what was behind the dispute as a colleague left for the hospital to try to establish contact with the family. Carter was hearing that the victim was only 13.
"Was he meant to get hit?" Carter asked over the phone.
In the days that followed, Safe Streets workers marched through the streets, again calling for an end to violence, with residents timidly standing in their front doors and hanging out windows in quiet approval. Behind the scenes, workers got in touch with the victim's family and tried to determine what the conflict was about.
They believe the incident has been quashed, for now, though they know that months, even years can go by before some decide to retaliate. There hasn't been a homicide in the program's two main areas in more than four months, but maintaining calm will hinge on staying in touch with the key players. They say that work will continue informally, even as Safe Streets' operations are shelved as City Hall conducts a review.
"Each one of those outreach workers has a dozen or so high-risk individuals who look up to them, who are in a fragile place and can go one way or the other," Webster said.
Carter stood outside the Monument Street office on a recent weeknight with outreach worker Tard Carter, 33, as men passed by on the sidewalk, shaking hands and chatting briefly. They said they remain focused on their mission.
"You've got to be passionate about this," Tard Carter said. "The only thing that turns off is the money. We live this."
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