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Police Increase Patrols In West Baltimore After Increase In Violence

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Neighborhood under siege. There's been an explosion of violence in West Baltimore, including another murder Tuesday night. Police have announced new plans to get that community under control.

Meghan McCorkell spoke with the commissioner of police about the stepped up enforcement.

Police officials say this latest spate of violence is alarming. Now they are putting some serious manpower in that area to try and stop it.

More crime scene tape in West Baltimore. Detectives are looking for clues after a man was killed in a hail of bullets Tuesday night right next to a school. Just about a mile away on Tuesday morning, three bodies were found in a grisly triple murder inside an apartment.

"It's not a good thing to have guns in our neighborhood and we're right across the street from an elementary school," said Gerald Winder.

There have been 46 homicides in the city so far this year, up from 33 this time last year. Fourteen of them have been in the western district.

"The western is a concern. We've put a lot of resources in there. We're going to put even more resources in there to get in control," said Police Commissioner Anthony Batts.

Police top brass were called to City Hall to explain what they're doing to stop the violence.

"People are dying in this city and we want to know that they have a handle on that and also that they're looking at the big picture," said City Councilman Brandon Scott.

Batts says the city is making strides. The department served more than 1,000 felony warrants this year and gun arrests are up 34 percent.

In the southern district, the number of guns taken off the streets is up 112 percent this year.

"Our efforts to be proactive, to take guns off the street is working," Batts said.

Now the focus shifts to West Baltimore, where police are stepping up patrols to end this deadly streak.

The entire graduating academy class will be assigned to foot patrol in the Western District starting this Friday.

Police will also be moving officers from the zone enforcement section into West Baltimore to patrol the streets both day and night.

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