Crime Problem

Editor: Every day the media reports more crime, more violent crime, all kinds of pointless crimes. I can think of at least three excellent deterrents to crime – any crime: • The moral/religious compass, based on the Judeo-Christian principles found in America's foundation that was once taught by parents, teachers and clerics.  • The fear of punishment after arrest, trial and conviction – particularly execution.    ...

Editor: Every day the media reports more crime, more violent crime, all kinds of pointless crimes. I can think of at least three excellent deterrents to crime – any crime: • The moral/religious compass, based on the Judeo-Christian principles found in America's foundation that was once taught by parents, teachers and clerics.  • The fear of punishment after arrest, trial and conviction – particularly execution.    ...

No matter who wins the final vote count in the states' attorney contest, we will all be talking about crime over the next several weeks. Police and prosecutors fight crime, but education prevents crime. We're seeing signs of an educational renaissance in Baltimore City, but it's just the beginning. As a teacher, a city resident and a Democratic nominee to the Maryland Senate, I won't be satisfied until our schools are so great that families want to move into the city so their children can attend Baltimore City Public Schools.

I do not believe in any form of gun control, and I think it will ultimately kill more law-abiding Americans than any other law. The vast majority of Americans believe in the Second Amendment and that infringing on one's right to defend oneself is a clear violation of the Constitution. I would be happy to offer ideas about how to reduce violent crimes committed with firearms. This is not rocket science, it's common sense. But gun control only equals more crime. It only helps the criminals among us commit more crimes.

When Baltimore police roll into city neighborhoods known for serious drug violence, the first thing they often hear are shouts of "Five-O! Five-O!" from lookouts warning of their approach. The lookouts, mostly men in their 40s and 50s who are considered too old to play much of a role in the street-level drug trade, earn a meager subsistence on the periphery of the business. Younger, up-and-coming dealers pay them a pittance to keep watch, usually in the form of just enough heroin or crack cocaine to get them through another day. So when Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, who came up through the ranks and once walked those mean streets himself, considers how to manage Baltimore's endemic crime problem, he's got to be thinking of those middle-age guys on the street who, broke, unemployed and addicted, are as much victims of the city's violent drug trade as are the junkies who line up in the shadows to buy their daily fix. "The best thing I could possibly do to reduce crime in Baltimore would be to give all my officers two kinds of cards to hand out," the commissioner says.

In the discussion of the downtown crime problem by Del. Pat McDonough and The Sun's Dan Rodricks , there is an important missing link ("Sailabration brings out the mobs," June 19). When the link is considered, one can see that they are both right! They are discussing two different areas. Delegate McDonough is talking about downtown Baltimore and Mr. Rodricks is talking about the Inner Harbor. As someone who has lived in the central business district for the past six years, there is only one reason that I'm there - namely, the harbor.

SAN DIEGO -- With little public notice, property crime in the United States has fallen sharply since 1980, data from the FBI show, with burglary rates down by almost half. That gives New York a lower burglary rate than London, and Los Angeles fewer burglaries than Sydney, Australia.The drop in property crime -- burglary, larceny and auto thefts -- has been obscured by the high level of violent crimes such as murder and robbery, which spurred demands for tougher sentencing laws.The drop in property crime -- which outnumbers violent crime 7-to-1 -- has been so large that the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and Canada now have overall crime rates as high as that in the United States, and as many criminals per capita, said Franklin Zimring, the director of the Earl Warren Legal Institute at the University of California at Berkeley.

Since Sept. 13, the date of Baltimore City's mayoral primary, there has been little to no coverage of the race leading up to the general election Nov. 8. The winners of that race will have it in their power to fix the 1 in 4 jobless rate in Baltimore City, stimulate a stagnant city economy, fix the appalling vacant property problem, balance the budget without raising taxes, fix an outdated transportation system, seriously address the crime problem...

I do not believe in any form of gun control, and I think it will ultimately kill more law-abiding Americans than any other law. The vast majority of Americans believe in the Second Amendment and that infringing on one's right to defend oneself is a clear violation of the Constitution. I would be happy to offer ideas about how to reduce violent crimes committed with firearms. This is not rocket science, it's common sense. But gun control only equals more crime. It only helps the criminals among us commit more crimes.

Boca Raton, Florida.--The issue of crime has provoked American politicians to spout demagoguery more befitting of the leaders of religious cults.FBI figures show that the rate of major crimes has not gone higher. But the flaming political rhetoric has, searing most Americans with a panicky fear of violence.Republican leaders cry that ''the Democrats are soft on crime,'' as they used to call them ''soft on communism.'' Now as then, leading Democrats are shaking in their boots, stooping to the disgraceful posture of trying to prove that they aren't coddlers of murderers, rapists, muggers and kidnappers.

In the discussion of the downtown crime problem by Del. Pat McDonough and The Sun's Dan Rodricks , there is an important missing link ("Sailabration brings out the mobs," June 19). When the link is considered, one can see that they are both right! They are discussing two different areas. Delegate McDonough is talking about downtown Baltimore and Mr. Rodricks is talking about the Inner Harbor. As someone who has lived in the central business district for the past six years, there is only one reason that I'm there - namely, the harbor.

Since Sept. 13, the date of Baltimore City's mayoral primary, there has been little to no coverage of the race leading up to the general election Nov. 8. The winners of that race will have it in their power to fix the 1 in 4 jobless rate in Baltimore City, stimulate a stagnant city economy, fix the appalling vacant property problem, balance the budget without raising taxes, fix an outdated transportation system, seriously address the crime problem...

Baltimore County police have charged a 25-year-old man in a Saturday stabbing that injured four people at a Parkville bar — an incident that concerns officers who say the club has had violent crime problems in the past. Allen Quentin Johnson, of the 1500 block of Lester Morton Court in Baltimore City, faces 18 charges including first-degree assault after police said he stabbed four men outside the Cheers Bar & Grill at 1969 E. Joppa Road. The stabbing was one of several incidents in recent years that have brought police to Cheers Bar, located behind the Perring Plaza shopping center in Parkville, which overlooks Interstate 695. A number of police reports cite the bar as the backdrop for assaults, disorderly crowds, and one attempted-murder charge in October 2008, but the police calls have died down in the past year.

No matter who wins the final vote count in the states' attorney contest, we will all be talking about crime over the next several weeks. Police and prosecutors fight crime, but education prevents crime. We're seeing signs of an educational renaissance in Baltimore City, but it's just the beginning. As a teacher, a city resident and a Democratic nominee to the Maryland Senate, I won't be satisfied until our schools are so great that families want to move into the city so their children can attend Baltimore City Public Schools.

There have been few things more dispiriting in Baltimore's public life than the last weeks of the race for state's attorney between incumbent Pat Jessamy and challenger Gregg Bernstein. Ms. Jessamy has held the position since 1995, surviving early battles with former Mayor Martin O'Malley and outlasting a series of controversial police chiefs. This time around many influential Baltimoreans decided to support Mr. Bernstein, a well-respected and skilled criminal defense attorney with no public or elective office experience but with a well-financed campaign and strong engagement with many voters.

It's difficult to find much mention of the city of Baltimore these days without reference to crime. There is open argument, in the pages of this newspaper and its online edition, on radio talk shows and in private conversation, about the relative danger of working in or visiting "Charm City." Is it really charming these days, or a place to be avoided because of random acts of violence that appear increasingly directed toward people in neighborhoods that once seemed safe? Everybody has an opinion, it seems - some based on personal experiences, some shaped by a need to reassure potential visitors that there's no need to avoid the place.

Gov. William Donald Schaefer called today for new strategies for law enforcement in the community as he opened the Governor's Summit on Violent Crime at the Baltimore Convention Center.The governor's opening remarks came as approximately 700 law enforcement officials and business and community leaders gathered to address the mounting crime problem in the city and throughout Maryland.Mr. Schaefer said the crime problem cannot be solved simply by "throwing money at it." Rather, he said, issues such as the disintegration of the family and education and welfare reform must be addressed.

THIS TIME OF year millions of Americans with money in their pockets or adventure in their hearts quit these shores for distant places. When they get to them, they often see a different urban life than what they're used to back home.As darkness falls, the great capitals of Asia and Europe hum with human vitality. At the hub of these urban centers, streets swarm with people enjoying the gentle August nights. They stroll. They talk. They eat and they drink.By contrast, as evening approaches, the capital of the last superpower on Earth takes on the feel of a ghost town.

When Baltimore police roll into city neighborhoods known for serious drug violence, the first thing they often hear are shouts of "Five-O! Five-O!" from lookouts warning of their approach. The lookouts, mostly men in their 40s and 50s who are considered too old to play much of a role in the street-level drug trade, earn a meager subsistence on the periphery of the business. Younger, up-and-coming dealers pay them a pittance to keep watch, usually in the form of just enough heroin or crack cocaine to get them through another day. So when Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, who came up through the ranks and once walked those mean streets himself, considers how to manage Baltimore's endemic crime problem, he's got to be thinking of those middle-age guys on the street who, broke, unemployed and addicted, are as much victims of the city's violent drug trade as are the junkies who line up in the shadows to buy their daily fix. "The best thing I could possibly do to reduce crime in Baltimore would be to give all my officers two kinds of cards to hand out," the commissioner says.

State, federal and local officials are working on a comprehensive crime plan for Annapolis that could make the state capital a model for other cities across Maryland. The plan, which has the backing of one of Annapolis' newest residents, Gov. Martin O'Malley, would sharpen the focus on the city's most violent residents, increase police patrols, lighting and security cameras in public housing communities, and fund mentoring programs for youths and drug and alcohol treatment. "We think this is an opportunity not only to solve the crime problem in the city of Annapolis but to use it as a model program that can be duplicated across the state," said House Speaker Michael E. Busch, a Democrat whose district includes the city.