Baltimore residents highly concerned about the rise in crimes
While homicides have remained the same, other incidents of violence are on the rise.
Residents in Baltimore are coming together to talk about solutions to rectify a problem that has pervaded their community for decades—violence.
Residents in Baltimore are coming together to talk about solutions to rectify a problem that has pervaded their community for decades—violence.
According to the Baltimore Sun, violent crimes have significantly risen over the past two years. While homicides have remained the same at 35 percent in 2016 and 2017, crimes such as aggravated assault, robbery, and rape actually increased nearly 14.5 percent from 2016 to 2017.
As violence began to skate upwards, proper crimes, burglaries, and thefts fell approximately 0.6 percent from 2016 to 2017.
The crime rates for 2018 are currently indistinguishable, but the community is not waiting to find out what is to come— they’re taking action right now.
In January, over 500 residents attended a meeting with the Maryland police to discuss a string of burglaries that ravaged Baltimore county through four different towns in October: Pikesville, Franklin, Cockeysville, and Towson. Days later, officers arrested three men on multiple charges of first-degree burglary.
This past Thursday, a man entered a Sunoco gas station in the 9300 block of Lakeside Boulevard and demanded cash at gunpoint. Michele Gipson, president of the Homeowners Association in New Town said that her neighbor was present and told her that she had feared for her life.
Gipson could relate as she too has been robbed at gunpoint in the last two years at a local Starbucks.
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“The police, they always say it’s worse in other communities,” Gipson commented. “I’ll be honest, that irritates me. … It’s not acceptable in our community.”
Red Alert
Crime has been a consistent topic at community meetings and they’ve even created an alert system on a local website to be notified when and where a crime takes place.
Last Monday, those subscribed to the alerts were notified after two men ran into a Target in Owing Mills and shot at another man. Baltimore Sun reports that the targeted man was not hit and that no one was injured, but the incident has the county on alert yet again.
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“I find it utterly incredible and shameful that somebody would pull a gun in Target,” said County Councilman Julian Jones, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Owings Mills.
Baltimore county continues to battle with rising crimes head-on. The county has been fluctuating with the rise and decline in crime for years, but 2017 saw the greatest jump in crimes from 4,411 in 2016 to 5,052 in 2017.
