Justin Fenton reportsin the Sun: A city police commander has been reinstated for active duty after being cleared of wrongdoing in a probe into text messages he exchanged with a community activist who was being sought on a warrant and later allegedly stabbed his wife to death. … The Police Department intends to address “procedural issues” with how the warrant…
Tag: Baltimore
The End of a Glorious Tradition?
Now I haven’t witnessed this first hand, but it’s no great secret in the police world that every now and then somebody very troublesome may be picked up and dropped off far from home. Alas, this glorious police tradition may be on the way out, at least in Baltimore. Such is the usual fate in the light of media publicity.…
Balto Cops Bust Wrong Door, Leave it Hanging
My NYPD students tell me that New York doesget the doors they bust down fixed. Not in Baltimore. Police bust down your door in the course of duty? It’s on you. Even if it turns out you’re innocent. Peter Hermann writes: First city cops bust down the wrong door on a drug raid. Then, when Andrew Leonard tries to get…
Witness Intimidation
Witness intimidation is nothing new. But it usually doesn’t happen from the defendant to the witness while the witness is on the stand. Melissa Harris writes in the Sun: On the 10th day of the 17-day trial, as the lawyers huddled at the bench with their backs turned, the jury watched the 29-year-old defendant lock eyes with the witness, hold…
37 Arrests, then a Killing
A witness identified Anderson, of the 4300 block of Seminole Ave., as one of the kidnappers…. Anderson has been arrested and charged at least 37 times, mostly with drug possession charges…. Most were dropped by prosecutors before they reached trial. He was also charged three times with attempted murder and five times with handgun charges, dropped each time by prosecutors.…
Balto Patrol Short Handed
Peter Hermann reports in the Baltimore Sun. Top brass always says patrol is the backbone of the police department. They lie. Roughly half of the police department is assigned to the patrol. When you need officers, you take them from patrol. Backbone my ass! What kind of organization knocks out its own vertebrae? When officers are taken from patrol, of…
Oh, Baltimore!
Feds Say Utz Potato Chip Stand at Baltimore’s Lexington Market Was Used to Sell Guns. And it looks like The Greek is behind it, according to the story by Van Smith and Chris Landers in the Baltimore City Paper. I wonder if this means the wedding is off?Or at least of the shotgun variety.
Indictments in Baltimore
Three officers, two retired, one of whom I know and like, are indicted five years after an incident. Gimme a break.
Gangsta Rap, Yo-Boys, and B-more.
So I’m trying to write and Schoolly-D’s “A Gangster Story” comes on. I hear him say “B-more” and “yo-boy” and perk up. I’ve always liked slang and wondered about the term “yo-boy” because it’s so common in Baltimore’s ‘hood but I’ve never heard it outside of Baltimore (what’s a “yo-boy?” You gotta read my book. You have, right? If not,…
Shoe-Leather Research
It’s a lazy journalist and an incompetent academic who writes a story based on the anecdotes of cab drivers, bartenders, and shoe shiners. But… I was getting my shoes shined Friday afternoon in Baltimore’s Penn Station and the shoe shiner and I were chatting. He was a black man, a bit older than me. Baltimore born and bred. West Side.…