One year after a report that explored how effective Baltimore City’s support system for victims of violent crime was released, results were examined publicly during a city council hearing on Thursday. Baltimore City Police Department leaders said they’ve made investments to improve the relationship between officers and victims of violent crime since a report conducted in conjunction with the Justice Department’s National Public Safety Partnership was shared. When interviewed for the report, Baltimore City Police Department employees were asked for any stories of success about good relationships between the police and victims of crime.
In response, there were “often blank stares, nervous laughter, or unequivocal responses that unfortunately they did not have any examples,” according to the report released in October 2021.
Since then, the Baltimore City Police Department responded in an August letter about improvements.
The 22-page letter outlines changes that are already being implemented, such as a greater focus on building trust with the community, and adhering to the police department's mission statement of upholding the U.S. Constitution and valuing the sanctity of human life, aligning with the principles of procedural justice.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison was not present at the hearing, but Deputy Commissioner Richard Worley Jr. was there.
One of the biggest issues that came out of the report is that Black residents are more likely to be criminalized, said Heather Warnken, lead author and executive director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Criminal Justice Reform.
“The reality that repeatedly emerged in this assessment, is that Black residents impacted by violence, especially those who are poor or have ever touched the justice system previously, are more likely to be criminalized, than seen as human beings deserving of dignity and support,” Warnken said.
Often, both victims and their families are retraumatized by police, she said.
That dichotomy isn’t likely to reduce violence crime or improve neighborhoods, said Mark Conway, a Baltimore City council member who represents District 4 and serves as the chair of the public safety and oversight committee.
“We know that poor relations between police and communities can mean that we breed fear and distrust,” Conway said.
This results in less effective policing and a police force at large and means that crimes, even very serious crimes go unsolved, and that means a less safe city, Conway said.
Lydia Watts, executive director of University of Maryland’s Rebuild, Overcome, and Rise Center, a nonprofit that works with victims of violence and their families, said change is needed.
Often victims who have been shot and leave the hospital feeling as if they are the criminals, she said. Those victims are then more likely to engage in retaliatory shooting and feel as if no one cares about them as a victim and no one has cared for them their entire lives, she said.
Watts said the only way Baltimore City is going to see a significant drop in gun violence is to treat victims with compassion, transparency and with action.
“I know change takes a long time and much of this is baked into the culture of BPD and of one handedly of decades and if not centuries of not only racism, but also that only incarceration is the only answer to this kind of violence,” Watts said.
