Quality Of Life

Baltimore's long-struggling west side is outperforming the rest of downtown - even the waterfront - on jobs and some other measures of economic vitality, a sign that redevelopment efforts are gaining traction. That statistical barometer of health comes from the nonprofit Downtown Partnership of Baltimore Inc.'s 2004 "state of downtown" report, which will be released today and paints a mostly positive picture of the city's core. Downtown as a whole lost about 765 jobs but gained twice that number of residents.

Prosecutors said yesterday that the police crackdown on so-called quality of life offenses apparently is failing because an overwhelming majority of criminal citations do not pass legal muster. Police countered that the citations are still having the intended effect of clearing the streets, even if prosecutors decline to prosecute the charges. The exchange of opposing viewpoints followed the city state's attorney's office release of figures showing that the number of citations being ripped up by prosecutors continues to grow.

Let's eliminate all the reasons for petty crimes The Sun's editorial "Criminal citation don'ts" (July 18) includes the following paragraph: "Police should enforce the nuisance laws. These crimes may seem petty, but they affect how we live, where we live and how we feel about where we live. Prostitutes under street lamps. The stench of urine in alleys. Knots of men parked on stoops. Shattered liquor bottles littering sidewalks." Wouldn't it serve society a lot better if we were to concentrate on eliminating the cause of such petty crimes?

TO CITY prosecutors, George Gunther is your basic "frequent flier." The 48-year-old Baltimore man has been cited once, twice, seven times, for loitering or trespassing in the past four months. The cases usually are dismissed, and he winds up back on the street and in trouble again. Police officers are either improperly writing the citations or they haven't given prosecutors enough to pursue the charges. Either way, the nuisance remains. The example of Mr. Gunther offers a compelling reason why Police Commissioner Kevin P. Clark should rethink his strategy of using criminal citations to stem "quality of life" crimes.

ANGUISHED ORATORY at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen recently was meant to comfort the children of slain Baltimore police Officer Brian D. Winder. He was a man who believed that family and kids were just about all that matter. He wanted to defend the people he grew up with. He had a wry sense of humor. He loved to dance. Some day, his children will read the eulogies and be proud. But on the day of his funeral, 7-year-old Brandon Winder spoke for the city as his father's flag-draped casket was lifted into the brilliant sunlight outside the church.

Baltimore police officers have drastically increased their enforcement of so-called "quality of life" crimes during their first year and a half under Commissioner Kevin P. Clark, issuing a record number of citations and boosting the number of arrests. "We look at all illegal behavior and attack it in any way we can," Clark says. But the more people police send through the front door of the criminal justice system, the more cases prosecutors are tossing out. Since Clark took the helm, prosecutors are dismissing far more than half of all criminal citations, a marked increase.

AT AN AGE when many of his contemporaries are so afraid of falling and getting hurt they're reluctant to move, former President George H. W. Bush is celebrating his 80th birthday this weekend by jumping out of an airplane. "It's not scary," he insisted in a telephone interview last week. "The only scary part is when you're standing in the door of the plane just before you jump, looking down 13,000 feet. You get a funny little feeling in your legs. After you jump, you don't think about it because there are so many things you have to do. And once the chute opens, it's pure heaven."

Fighting back tears, Debbie Amrhine had to pause before expressing her happiness for a new program that will give her elderly parents a chance to leave their home safely. Amrhine said her 76-year-old father, disabled by a stroke 35 years ago, has suffered deteriorating health since October and has been unable to leave his house in Carney except for doctor appointments. She called the new Baltimore County government program that builds entrance ramps at homes of low-income seniors in the county a "godsend."

The way Jerry L. Lazarus sees it, too many vision-impaired seniors think losing their sight means living in total darkness. "So many seniors who are losing their sight don't really know what to do," said Lazarus, special projects director for the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind. "Their families don't know what to do. There are seniors out there who need information and help." The federation, which was founded in 1940 and moved to the city in 1978, will sponsor the 2004 Possibilities Fair Thursday at its new Jernigan Institute at 1800 Johnson St. in South Federal Hill.