Repeat Offenders

A dozen repeat, violent criminals got a stiff warning this week from Annapolis police, and Anne Arundel County and federal prosecutors: Commit another drug or weapons offense - even a minor one - and you will be looking at lengthy federal prison time and local prosecutors with no deals to offer. Tuesday's meeting was the first "call-in" held in Annapolis for violent repeat offenders, modeled on similar call-ins for criminals held elsewhere, police said. It is part of the Capital City Safe Streets program.

The woman arrested Wednesday for suspected drug offenses and attempted escape from pursuing officers would not have been on the street if judges had not been so lenient with a repeat offender ("Police chase in Northeast Baltimore ends in Baltimore Co.," Jan. 9). I propose that judges who continue to release such offenders should serve half of the original sentence when they are brought back in for another criminal act. I am certain that The Sun will agree. F. Cordell, Lutherville Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Beginning next month, a new Maryland law will force anyone convicted of drunken driving twice within five years to install ignition interlocks that require a puff of alcohol-free breath to start a vehicle's engine. The law requires a one-year mandatory license suspension before repeat offenders can drive with an interlock, which must be used for a year. The law takes effect Sept. 30. It was passed by this year's Maryland General Assembly and signed into law in the spring by Gov. Parris N. Glendening.

Speaking from behind a display of handguns and mug shots of violent offenders, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake reiterated on Monday a desire to pursue legislation to strengthen penalties for people caught with illegal guns. Police said surveillance operations, car stops and search warrants led to the arrest of several men over the weekend on gun charges. Among those arrested was 20-year-old Haymond Burton Jr., who in 2009 was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and handgun offenses, and was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy to commit second-degree assault, court records show.

FREDERICK - The body was found where children play. Nine-year-old Christopher Ausherman had been molested and beaten and left in the third-base dugout of a baseball diamond, an open packet of Pokemon cards still in his coat pocket. The location underscored the crime's horror: a ballfield used for youth baseball and football, a place that felt like the neighborhood's collective back yard. Then there was the timing: The mentally retarded man who is standing trial in the November 2000 murder had a long history of violent and sexual offenses and had been released from a Hagerstown prison less than a week before the child's death, after serving 3 1/2 years of a 10-year sentence for assault.

Carroll's success with Reality USA, an anti-substance abuse program that offers first-time youthful offenders a chance to avoid prosecution, has made the county a promotional model in Maryland and elsewhere. The county, which launched its Reality program in 1998, continues to lead the state in the number of participants - those referred by judges and parents - and continues to have the lowest rate of repeat offenders, said Terry Ober, Reality's national coordinator. Carroll's program remains the premier model, mainly because of the commitment of its organizers, instructors and volunteers, 244 and growing, he said.

Carroll County school officials continue to tinker with their hotly debated alcohol and drug regulations - easing penalties for students merely present when banned substances are consumed but stiffening punishment for repeat offenders. Superintendent Charles I. Ecker said yesterday that the regulations are being changed to differentiate two levels of violations, separating drug users and underage drinkers from nonparticipating partygoers. "I just don't think it's fair that someone that's not drinking gets the same penalty as those who are drinking or doing drugs," Ecker said.

Speaking from behind a display of handguns and mug shots of violent offenders, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake reiterated on Monday a desire to pursue legislation to strengthen penalties for people caught with illegal guns. Police said surveillance operations, car stops and search warrants led to the arrest of several men over the weekend on gun charges. Among those arrested was 20-year-old Haymond Burton Jr., who in 2009 was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and handgun offenses, and was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy to commit second-degree assault, court records show.

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. -- In the stratified world of the U.S. military, a measure of equality is found behind these century-old granite walls. Colonels and privates are addressed by the same title. There is no snapping to attention, no salutes."That's a privilege. We don't afford that to them," says Army Col. Mike Lansing, commandant of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, known among those in uniform as simply "the DB."Heading off to work stations in dark brown work clothes are full Army colonels and buck privates, Navy petty officers and Air Force sergeants.

Carroll's success with Reality USA, an anti-substance abuse program that offers first-time youthful offenders a chance to avoid prosecution, has made the county a promotional model in Maryland and elsewhere. The county, which launched its Reality program in 1998, continues to lead the state in the number of participants - those referred by judges and parents - and continues to have the lowest rate of repeat offenders, said Terry Ober, Reality's national coordinator. Carroll's program remains the premier model, mainly because of the commitment of its organizers, instructors and volunteers, 244 and growing, he said.

Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein announced Thursday the launch of a new "Major Investigations Unit" devoted to dealing with violent repeat offenders — a criminal class that was key to his campaign last year. "Research and data reveal that a relatively small number of violent, repeat offenders commit a disproportionately large amount of the violent crime," Bernstein said in a statement. "By strategically and aggressively pursuing, prosecuting and imprisoning these individuals, we will have a dramatic impact on the level of violence in the city, and as a result make Baltimore a safer place to live and work.

The first question to be asked about the murder of Stephen Pitcairn, the promising young Johns Hopkins researcher who was robbed and stabbed to death last week as he walked home from Penn Station to Charles Village, is also the hardest to answer: How did John Alexander Wagner, the violent repeat offender whom police accuse of committing the crime, come to be allowed to roam the streets at all? Although homicide and violent crime in Baltimore City generally have been falling in recent years, incidents like the killing of Mr. Pitcairn are a frustrating reminder of the failure of the criminal justice system to prevent convicted violent felons like Mr. Wagner from continuing to commit crimes that shock the conscience of the community.

First-time juvenile offenders in Annapolis will be offered an alternative to a juvenile record with the start of a new program offered by police. The Juvenile Offenders in Need of Supervision Program, or JOINS, will give first-time offenders under the age of 18, who admit to minor crimes and agree to enter into the 90-day program, a chance to expunge their record, if the victim agrees. "It's for those kids that you can work with and give the right attention to. They need to be given a second chance," said Det. Shelley White, director of the program.

There are several tip-offs that a driver might be drunk: swerving, traveling the wrong way on a street, pulling out of a bar late at night. And a Prince George's County lawmaker wants to add one more. He says the state should replace license plates of repeat drunken drivers with bright yellow tags that read "DUI." "Displaying the special license plates will give people some understanding of who they are sharing the roadways with," Marvin E. Holmes Jr., a Democrat, said at a hearing on his bill Thursday.

Reducing Baltimore's homicide rate will take more than just getting illegal guns off the streets and arresting the most violent offenders. It will also require putting more resources into apprehending the illegal-gun dealers who provide the weapons that fuel the city's homicide epidemic. That's the conclusion to be drawn from Sun reporter Peter Hermann's perplexing report last week that the steady decline in nonfatal shootings in Baltimore over the last 12 years has not been matched by a comparable drop in gun fatalities.

A dozen repeat, violent criminals got a stiff warning this week from Annapolis police, and Anne Arundel County and federal prosecutors: Commit another drug or weapons offense - even a minor one - and you will be looking at lengthy federal prison time and local prosecutors with no deals to offer. Tuesday's meeting was the first "call-in" held in Annapolis for violent repeat offenders, modeled on similar call-ins for criminals held elsewhere, police said. It is part of the Capital City Safe Streets program.

Carroll County school officials continue to tinker with their hotly debated alcohol and drug regulations - easing penalties for students who are merely present when banned substances are consumed but stiffening the punishment for repeat offenders. Superintendent Charles I. Ecker said yesterday that the regulations are being changed to differentiate two levels of violations, separating drug users and underage drinkers from nonparticipating partygoers. "I just don't think it's fair that someone that's not drinking gets the same penalty as those who are drinking or doing drugs," Ecker said.

They call it "the book."Every police cruiser assigned to the Baltimore County neighborhood of Hillendale carries a copy of the white three-ring binder that identifies offenders on probation who live in the community. It's an innovation that has helped make Hillendale one of the state's most successful "HotSpots" communities.In its first 18 months, the program that pairs police and probation officers and enlists community support has helped to lower crime 20 percent statewide in targeted areas.

The eight men sat quietly on folding chairs in the basement of a West Baltimore church as police and federal prosecutors delivered a sobering message: We know who you are, and we're prepared to bring everything we've got against you. At the front of the room were three posters with the word "EXILED" in large black letters, each displaying mug shots of city men sentenced to hard federal time for possession of as little as two grams of powder cocaine -...

Jerrod Rowlett is counted among Baltimore's worst criminals. He's racked up dozens of arrests in his 25 years, including at least four murder charges (one of which is still pending). He has a handful of gun, drug and assault convictions, and he's classified as a "violent repeat offender" by the state. He's also never served any significant time. But he's about to. After cutting Rowlett a generous break in 2007, setting him free under probation via a plea deal on assault and drug charges, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn Stewart ruled Thursday that he would have to serve the rest of his previously suspended 15-year sentence because he violated probation.