Richard Worley is holding a series of “meet and greet” town halls across Baltimore’s policing districts before he is confirmed as police commissioner by the Baltimore City Council — the first in-person meeting was held Monday night. It’s a chance for the public to ask questions while learning more about Worley’s leadership and agenda.
One message was clear among dozens of the residents who braved the Monday night rain to meet Worley at a church in Park Heights: Baltimore needs a police force invested in its communities.
Worley was joined by Mayor Brandon Scott, who appointed Worley back in June after Commissioner Michael Harrison resigned. Residents lined up at the microphone to ask their questions, ranging from broad public safety concerns like vacant housing to the more personal.
“You grew up in the city yet you chose to move from the city. I'm interested in the factors that influenced you leaving the city?” Rosalind Griffin asked Worley. Worley told her that his wife got a stipend to move to Annapolis but city charter requires him to move to Baltimore City if he’s confirmed and that he plans on coming back.
Others demanded that not just Worley live in Baltimore, but his officers too, asking how officers could truly be invested in communities they don’t live in and where they don’t pay taxes. Many wanted to see officers walking around the streets of their community, getting to know the residents and putting in facetime when they weren’t making arrests. A few asked for officers to be placed in schools.
Worley told gathered residents that community patrolling is one of his priorities, “We want our officers to have 40% of every hour free to walk foot… that's how you get to know the community.” But some of that is dependent on staffing he said, “our patrol staffing is at the lowest it's ever been, since I've been in the department” and that he was putting more officers on patrol.
A recent report completed as part of the agency’s federally-mandated consent decree found that the department is struggling to meet community policing goals, one of the main pillars of the decree. That report cited “40%” as the ideal amount of time for police to be doing community policing work which includes walking the streets and hearing residents’ concerns. The report said that “staffing shortages” were a major barrier to preventing that from happening.
One section of the report reads, “A number of people we spoke to said that they thought foot patrol is an important part of proactive policing, but officers are spending noticeably more time patrolling in their vehicles than they do on foot patrols.”
Residents also pointed to spaces they say loitering and drug dealing abound. Some expressed feelings of neglect when police don't enforce penalties for those offenses. That’s something Worley says his department will be doing alongside the state’s attorney.
“In the past, we weren't doing much enforcement because it wasn't being prosecuted. That's changed,” said Worley, referring to former state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby’s decision to stop prosecuting certain low-level crimes. Worley told residents, “We are doing more enforcement now.”
Many residents made it clear that the department has much work to do before it will gain their trust.
Cynthia Bruce said she has been trying for nearly eight years to get more help from the department on her son’s case. Her son Marcus Downer was killed in 2015.
“Whenever I call the homicide department, I get answers like I'm overworked or… I have so many cases, I can't go back to your son case,” Bruce said.
There are four more town-halls before the city council meets to confirm Worley. That date is not set.
Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, 6:00pm - 8:00pm Shake & Bake Family Fun Center 1601 Pennsylvania Avenue Baltimore, MD 21217
Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, 6:00pm - 8:00pm National Federation of the Blind 200 E. Wells Street Baltimore, MD 21230
Monday Aug. 28, 2023, 6:00pm - 7:30pm Telephone Town Hall Dial-in info to come.
Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, 6:00pm - 8:00pm Greater Paradise Christian Center 2900 E. Oliver Street Baltimore, MD 21213
RSVP at bit.ly/baltcitymeet0823 or call 311.
