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The Little Things That Add Up To Crime
The Baltimore Sun via YellowBrix
November 04, 2009
The two dozen or so residents from South Baltimore’s Riverside neighborhood turned off Light Street and onto Heath, a parade of people confronting crime and grime. It was a routine Citizens on Patrol walk, a central part of the Police Department’s outreach to residents.
Two people, a man and a woman strung out on drugs, simply wouldn’t leave. Warned to move on, they came back. Finally, as residents watched and patience wore thin, Sgt. John Kowalczyk sat the couple on a curb on Heath Street and slapped on the cuffs. The charge: disorderly conduct.
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“Didn’t I tell you to move?” the sergeant said.
“I’m in recovery. I come out looking for my friend,” the woman answered, explaining that she had just suffered a relapse.
Maj. Scott Bloodsworth, the commander of the Southern District, stood over the sitting suspects, but he was in no mood to listen to the people who’d disrupted his walk with residents.
“Of all days to relapse, you picked today,” he told her.
To the officers, the arrests abated a problem for the night. The two are safely locked up for a few hours, though the case won’t stick, probably won’t even get by the prosecutor on initial review, and will likely become another statistic of another arrest deemed unsuitable for formal charges.
To the residents, the arrests removed two known troublemakers from the street, and the officers did just what law-abiding homeowners expect them to do. They had spent the evening pointing out problems to the police, and right in front of their eyes, the police took care of one of them.
charles81
22 days ago
98 Comments
I am stuck on this paragraph "To the officers, the arrests abated a problem for the night. The two are safely locked up for a few hours, though the case won’t stick, probably won’t even get by the prosecutor on initial review, and will likely become another statistic of another arrest deemed unsuitable for formal charges."
Sounds like an admission to a false arrest.
nukefuzz2k8
22 days ago
84 Comments
sounds like common sense to me...he did what he had to do and protect the public
grant319
22 days ago
510 Comments
I like the sound of this, but I see a lawsuit coming over arrests like these. Unless there is more to this story I don't see any PC.
Sheriff_1
22 days ago
6832 Comments
Do whatcha gotta do.
fplasencia
22 days ago
5382 Comments
Thumbs up.... That's what Police Science Courses don't tells us... But Street Patrol does...
headbrer
22 days ago
2988 Comments
Now this is civic cooperation and responsibility