Mayor Jack Young Lashes Out At Gov. Larry Hogan Over Funds To Stop Violence After Bloody 24 Hours In Baltimore
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore Mayor Jack Young said he is not getting promised state resources, as Governor Larry Hogan claims too little is being done to fight crime in the city.
"We are still waiting on some of the resources the governor promised us to help us fight the crime," Young said at City Hall Wednesday. "Instead of the governor talking about the crime, give us the resources we ask for."
He said the resources include "technology money."
Hogan said no action has been taken in Annapolis on "bills supported by 90 percent of the city that are going to do something about this violent crime."
Hogan spoke at an event Tuesday in the city.
"It is the number one issue that everyone in the city and everyone in the state is concerned about. For 40 days, we've done absolutely nothing," Hogan said.
The governor has a press conference scheduled for Thursday morning.
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All of the finger-pointing comes as the city has experienced a bloody 24 hours. In less than 90 minutes Tuesday, six people were shot.
That includes two victims shot in the 900 block of Poplar Grove, including an 18-year-old wounded in his side and a 24-year-old man shot multiple times in the face.
In the 3200 block of Bel Air Road, there were three victims.
Patrick Fisher showed WJZ surveillance video from his restaurant on Bel Air and Erdman. You can see a customer duck as he hears the gunfire outside. He quickly locks the door.
Police arrived on the scene in less than one minute.
Fisher told WJZ that the violence does not shock him.
"We call the police several times. And the police, they are doing a good job," Fisher said. His message to city leaders: "Step up."
"As time goes, the crime really increases. We are not getting the solution," Fisher said.
Governor Hogan has repeatedly said the state provided the city one billion dollars over the past five years in crime-fighting resources.
Mayor Young, who has been in city government for more than two decades, said he was unsure of that number.
"I can't give you that figure right now," Young said. "I've only been mayor for what? Nine months going on 10 months. I don't know how much the governor has earmarked for the City of Baltimore in terms of a billion dollars. If it was a billion dollars, I don't think we'd have all the crime we have."
The mayor was critical of the state's correctional system, saying the agency "failed" and places people "back on the streets of Baltimore with no skills, no training. They need to provide that."
At the same press conference, Baltimore's police Commissioner Michael Harrison blamed some of the recent shootings on "crimes of passion."
Among the recent unsolved shootings: two people are wanted for shooting a 72-year-old woman in the chest last week and police are looking for a suspect in the fatal shooting of Syrian refugee and pizza delivery driver Khaled Heeba in West Baltimore, too.
The homicide rate is up 39 percent compared to this time last year with at least 43 people killed in Baltimore City in 2020.
