Violent Crime

Although homicides in Howard County rose from two to four last year, the relatively low violent-crime levels declined, according to police statistics that mainly covered the first 11 months of the year. Rapes were down from 43 to 34 for the entire year, a 20 percent decline, according to police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn. She added that although the number of homicides rose, all four cases last year involved domestic violence. Howard typically has a half-dozen or fewer homicides in a year.

Apparently Tavon White, the leader of the Black Guerrilla Family prison gang at the Baltimore City Detention Center, has been running the prison for some time ("Corruption alleged at jail," April 24). To connect the dots between violent crime, simply follow the money - it leads to the group's drug trafficking. Power, and the money that generates it, drive illegal businesses. Excitement, money and power are pumped up on sound systems and flat screen TVs across the country. That makes it sexy to sell and use drugs and even to be a gang member.

WASHINGTON -- The rates of homicide and firearm violence jumped upward in 2005, ending a decade of decline, according to a new U.S. Justice Department report that reinforces recent warnings by law enforcement officials. The National Crime Victimization Survey, released yesterday, found that nationwide, killings increased 4.8 percent, from 16,140 in 2004 to 16,910 last year. The biggest increases were reported in the Midwest and the South. Experts said these increases buttress reports from the FBI and many mayors and police chiefs that violent crime is beginning to rise after a long decline.

The letter regarding straw buyers ("Stop 'straw buyers' from purchasing guns," April 15) contains a major factual error: a straw purchase is already punishable, under federal law, carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Federal firearms licensees can also be held accountable for knowingly abetting a straw purchase. It is highly disingenuous to suggest that one can legally buy any number of firearms with the purpose of transferring them to a prohibited person, as doing so has been illegal since the passage of the Gun Control Act in 1968.

Rushing to implement a new, violent-crime task force even before planning for the unit is complete, Baltimore police officials last night sent a dozen extra patrol officers into the most crime-ridden areas of East and West Baltimore in an effort to reassure beleagured residents."

A spate of violence in the city continued with a daylight shooting that left three people dead inside a West Baltimore apartment, as members of the City Council on Tuesday pressed police commanders to address a rise in killings and robberies. The Fulton Avenue shootings took the life of two women and a man, the latest in an explosion of violence in West Baltimore, which has already seen 15 murders this year, half of its total for all of 2012. Ten of those killings have occurred in just a 12-block stretch southwest of Druid Hill Park and near Mondawmin Mall.

The recent editorial in The Sun ("Stopping the killing," March 24) argues the police should be focusing on guns and violent offenders. Clearly, there is value in having the police take as many guns off the street as possible, and strategies that engage hard-core violent offenders make a difference. That is why Commissioner Anthony Batts and his command staff have made guns, gangs and violent offenders the key elements of a strategy with five areas of focus aimed at reducing the unacceptable level of homicides in the city.

Tricia Bishop misrepresented my research as well as the debate over concealed-carry laws ("Gun laws' sketchy effect," March 11). She makes it appear that I am only "one economist" who claims to find that right-to-carry laws reduce violent crime. By now, a vast body of research supports my results. Among peer-reviewed national studies by criminologists and economists, 18 find that right-to-carry laws reduce violent crime, 10 claim no effect, and just one claims one type of crime temporarily increases slightly.

Several recent articles in The Sun have focused on Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed assault weapons ban ("O'Malley battling for gun controls," March 22). These articles all seem to have a common theme, the push for Marylanders to get on board the governor's agenda. It seems this push for support comes after many thousands of Marylanders who support their Second Amendment rights and disagree with Mr. O'Malley's approach to the state's violent crime issue have stood up and made their voices heard.

The city health officials who plan to strip non-conforming liquor stores of their licenses because of a Johns Hopkins University study linking them to violent crime may be confusing correlation with causation ("City targets liquor stores", June 18). The distinction is important, because if the liquor stores aren't what's causing the crime, then closing them won't cause it to drop and could even exacerbate the problem. Vacant properties, for example, also correlate with violent crime.

A 29-year-old woman was shot in Baltimore's Penrose/Fayette Street Outreach neighborhood at 1 a.m., police said. The woman, who has not been identified, was standing in the 2100 block of Vine St. and told officers that she had head gunfire and then realized she had been shot, according to police. She was taken by a medic to a local hospital. The shooting capped an unusually torrid and violent week that left eight people wounded by gunfire overnight on Wednesday. Friday saw a woman, who police have yet to identifiy, killed by gunshots and two other people wounded.

The chicanery in the Maryland House of Delegates' Judiciary Committee last week was shameful ("Gun bill advances to floor of House," March 30). We watched the vote count on Eastern Shore Republican Del. Michael Smigiel's amendment to hold criminals responsible for their violent acts with firearms. What we saw was abandonment of any pretext of democratic process and a conscious choice by lawmakers to protect criminals over law-abiding citizens. It was shameful. Delegate Smigiel's amendment would have toughened the penalties for criminals using guns in violent crimes, and it should have been a no-brainer.

The recent editorial in The Sun ("Stopping the killing," March 24) argues the police should be focusing on guns and violent offenders. Clearly, there is value in having the police take as many guns off the street as possible, and strategies that engage hard-core violent offenders make a difference. That is why Commissioner Anthony Batts and his command staff have made guns, gangs and violent offenders the key elements of a strategy with five areas of focus aimed at reducing the unacceptable level of homicides in the city.

On Sunday, a Sun editorial unfairly criticized the Baltimore Police Department for losing its focus on targeting the city's most violent criminals. I can assure residents that since I was appointed commissioner some 180 days ago, the senior leadership team of the BPD has been implementing strategies to complement our already razor-sharp focus on violent crime. There's no question our strategy includes a stronger presence of police in violence-prone areas to allow people to feel safer in their neighborhoods.

Several recent articles in The Sun have focused on Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed assault weapons ban ("O'Malley battling for gun controls," March 22). These articles all seem to have a common theme, the push for Marylanders to get on board the governor's agenda. It seems this push for support comes after many thousands of Marylanders who support their Second Amendment rights and disagree with Mr. O'Malley's approach to the state's violent crime issue have stood up and made their voices heard.

Baltimore residents are less satisfied with city services than they were last year, but see progress in the city's long-standing fight against violent crime and illegal drugs. Those are some of the mixed findings in the annual Baltimore Citizen Survey, which the University of Baltimore's Schaefer Center for Public Policy completed in October and the Rawlings-Blake administration released Friday. In a statement, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she's committed to improving Baltimore through "responsible budgeting and focusing on the top priorities of current city residents.

Having lived in Baltimore City for 8 years, I do not know one City resident who has not been impacted, directly or indirectly, by violent crime. Where do the judges who casually release known violent offenders onto City streets live? Have they not experienced violent crime in the way the rest of us have? Where do the prosecutors who negotiate these incredibly generous and lenient plea bargains live? Do they know anyone who has suffered the consequences of their deals? Rather than marching on the neighborhood streets where these killings occur, perhaps we should process past the homes of our prosecutors and judges with caskets carrying the bodies of the victims they failed to protect.

Violent crime hit a 31-year low in Annapolis last year, but a jump in thefts led overall crime in the city to climb by 8.4 percent over 2009's 35-year low. Crime statistics provided Monday by city police pointed to a sharp increase in motor vehicle thefts last year, along with smaller increases in other thefts. "We are not at all discouraged," said Annapolis Police Chief Michael A. Pristoop, noting that the figures indicate that approaches undertaken in recent years, especially those aimed at getting violent repeat offenders off the street, are paying off. The city also has improved its police technology, added security cameras and worked with property owners as well as officials in other agencies.

A spate of violence in the city continued with a daylight shooting that left three people dead inside a West Baltimore apartment, as members of the City Council on Tuesday pressed police commanders to address a rise in killings and robberies. The Fulton Avenue shootings took the life of two women and a man, the latest in an explosion of violence in West Baltimore, which has already seen 15 murders this year, half of its total for all of 2012. Ten of those killings have occurred in just a 12-block stretch southwest of Druid Hill Park and near Mondawmin Mall.

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.    ...