Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Interim Police Chief Kevin Davis held their latest public safety forum last night at the Waverly Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
The meeting aimed to address the concerns of residents living in the city's Northern District. The mayor told those in attendance that the best way to accomplish aims in the crime fight is to work together, saying she wants to translate the public’s ideas into policies that will improve policing in Baltimore City.
City Explainer shared the entire forum on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06hgF6qbNO4
Protesters Plan To Demonstrate Citywide As Gray Hearings Begin
Demonstrators in Baltimore are planning citywide protests this week as hearings begin in the trial of six police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray.
The Baltimore People’s Power Assembly, known for its organizing around issues of police brutality, is planning a protest for 8 am on Wednesday morning at the Clarence Mitchell Courthouse. On the event Facebook page, the group writes, “We demand that the officers be indicted, convicted, and jailed! No change of venue!”
In an interview with the Baltimore Sun, Sharon Black of the People’s Power Assembly said, "Our message is pretty obvious. Do not drop the charges. No change in venue. Do not recuse Marilyn Mosby.”
Duane "Shorty" Davis, of the Baltimore BLOC, says they are encouraging nonviolent acts of civil disobedience in the city, but not concentrated in West Baltimore. His goal is to get demonstrators to rally downtown and in wealthier parts of the city.
"I want you to go to Canton, Fells Point, the Inner Harbor, the Orioles' games," Davis told the Sun. "We're not just going to go in the black community and wave our hands. We're going to the white communities.”
Former Baltimore Jail Detainees
The process of moving former Baltimore jail detainees to other facilities is off to a faltering start after a brawl at one of the facilities. Corrections officials say eight of their officers and six detainees were injured Sunday night when detainees would not "lock in" to their dorms at the Baltimore Pre-Trial Complex, formerly known as the Metropolitan Transition Center.
According to authorities from the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, the fight was sparked when some detainees at the Baltimore Pre-Trial Complex refused to lock their rooms following an argument between an officer and a fellow detainee. Detainees then reportedly attacked officers as well as other detainees before holing themselves up in the dorms, eventually ending their barricade to allow those injured to receive treatment. Two dorms were involved in the fracas and both remained on lockdown as of yesterday.
Gerard Shields, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, told the Baltimore Sun via a statement that one inmate has been charged in connection with the incident.
"The Department has moved aggressively to relocate to other secure facilities those believed to be responsible for the disturbance," said Shields.
At Least One Dead, Two Injured In Separate Violent Incidents
Baltimore police are investigating two separate incidents of violence that left at least one person dead. The first involved a fatal stabbing in the Gwynn Oak section of the city yesterday, where officers say the victim was found in the 49-hundred block of Challendon Road and that a suspect is in custody. Meanwhile, an investigation is underway into a shooting incident in West Baltimore that wounded two men, one of them with life-threatening injuries. Police say the men were shot just after 9:00 last night in the 28-hundred block of Edmonson Avenue.
Port Of Baltimore Has Banner Fiscal Year
The Port of Baltimore is coming off a banner year. State officials say more than 9.7 million tons of general cargo and 808,000 containers moved through the port's public marine terminals during the fiscal year that ended in June, both new records. The port also set new records for most general cargo tons in the first six months of a calendar year and most containers in a single month in June.
Rays Double Up O's
The Tampa Bay Rays doubled up the Orioles 6-3 in the opener of a three-game series at Camden Yards. Adam Jones plated a run for the O's in the seventh and then scored on Steve Clevenger's two-run single later in the inning for the O's, who have lost five straight and eleven of their last 12 overall. Wei-Yin Chen surrendered five runs in less than five frames as he fell to 8-7.
