Baltimore Mayor, Police Announce Plan To Combat Summer Crime
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- On Monday, Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and Interim Police Commissioner Garry Tuggle announced their strategy to combat soaring violence in the city as we get into the summer months.
This comes after a bloody weekend, in which five people were killed and seven others were shot.
There's been 25 homicides in the past 30 days, 18 in just 18 days so far this month.
"There are too many people with guns in this city. Too many young people with guns in their hands," Mayor Pugh said.
Saturday night, a 21-year-old woman and 37-year-old man were shot in the 3900 block of Edmonson Ave. Both were pronounced dead at the hospital.
Also Saturday night, another shooting along the 900 block of Valley St. left a 27-year-old man dead.
Days before that, it was 20-year-old Jasmine Morris, who was stabbed to death on a set of bleachers. Her ex-boyfriend, who says hes an active member of the military, was pinned with her slaying.
On Monday, police were at a Baltimore County landfill, searching for additional evidence in that case where the murder weapon has yet to be found.
Sunday night, a 41-year-old man was stabbed in the 4200 block of Thayer Court and died from his injuries.
No arrests have been made in these cases.
The mayor and the interim commissioner say there will be an increased federal presence to combat the crime.
"We realize we can't do this on our own and that's why we're going to take advantage of those additional resources and opportunities," interim commissioner Tuggle said.
Specifically targeting high-profile criminals and continuing to use new technology, like the long-awaited shot spotter network.
"We're going after the worst of the worst, those are wreaking havoc on their community" Tuggle added. "Our response time has dropped dramatically because of that. Officers are getting alerts of shootings almost instantly."
"This is about disrupting violence, disruptions drug trafficking, disrupting gangs," Pugh added.
Even with 12 homicides in the past week alone, the mayor is confident the city is beginning to see the results it desperately needs.
"I think you'll be able to tell with the numbers. Currently, the numbers are down. It's my goal to make sure they get down even further," Pugh said.
She says the city is down 18 to 19 percent in homicides.
The media asked some questions surrounding predictive policing, technology in place in other cities like Los Angeles and Chicago that's helped deter crime. The technology was supposed to already be in place in Baltimore but Tuggle says they're waiting for more software.
The mayor also says the city is working with a company to find a new police commissioner and that applications continue to come in.
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