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Candidates look to add to police force
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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - With the number of murders in Baltimore City threatening to hit 300 this year, the solution on the table by nearly every political candidate is to add more police to serve the population.
What no one appears to have asked is one question: Will it work?
Statistics suggest it’s not the answer, and criminologists say it might have the opposite impact.
“With [the] police-to-population ratio, you would think the bigger the rate gets, the lower crime would be, but when you look at the crime numbers you sometimes see the exact opposite,” said Michael White, criminologist at John Jay College School of Criminal Justice in New York.
Sheldon Greenberg, associate dean and director of the Division of Public Safety at Johns Hopkins University, said, “There is no correlation between crime rate or anything else and the number of officers. It’s all political rhetoric.”
As of today, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York staff 4.5 officers per 1,000 residents, which is above the national norm reported by the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics of 2.5 officers per 1,000 residents. In comparison, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department has 6.9 officers per 1,000 residents, about 60 percent more law enforcement personnel per resident than Baltimore.
The number of violent crimes reported per 1,000 residents in D.C. is only 2.1 percent lower than Baltimore. However, in New York and Philadelphia, which both staff 4.5 officers per 1,000 residents, New York is a much safer city, according to the violent crime rates.
“That’s because where you put officers is more important than how many you have,” Greenberg said. “You always staff patrol first — if officers cannot adequately respond to calls from citizens, then everything else suffers.”
On average, Greenberg said, police departments allocate 60 percent to 65 percent of sworn officers to patrol. In Baltimore, the number is far lower — 52 percent. Greenberg said Baltimore has de-emphasized patrol.
“Up until [six] years ago, Baltimore had a culture that emphasized patrol and some years ago they got away from that,” he said.
Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm recently said the city is committed to increasing patrol staffing to 60 percent.
Mayoral spokesman Anthony McCarthy said the department is balancing its resources between patrol and specialized units, and making adjustments.
City Councilman Jack Young, D-District 12, said the patrol officers have not seen those adjustments.
“I’m hearing from officers in my district that they are short on patrol,” he said.
Young said the public’s sense of safety should dictate staffing levels for the police department.
“Whatever makes the citizens feel safe ... if that means putting more officers on the street, than so be it,” he said.
CRIME STATS
Baltimore
» Population: 635,815
» Sworn officers: 2,900
» Police per 1,000 residents: 4.5
» Homicides per 100,000 residents: 43
» Violent crimes per 1,000 residents: 16.9
Washington, D.C
» Population: 550,521
» Sworn officers: 3,800
» Police per 1,000 residents: 6.9
» Homicides per 100,000 residents: 29
» Violent crimes per 1,000 residents: 14.8.
New York
» Population: 8,143,197
» Sworn officers: 37,038
» Police per 1,000 residents: 4.5
» Homicides per 100,000 residents: 7
» Violent crimes per 1,000 residents: 6.3
Philadelphia
» Population: 1,463,281
» Sworn officers: 6,580
» Police per 1,000 residents: 4.5
» Homicides per 1,000 residents: 27
» Violent crimes per 1,000: 15.6
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, census data, police agencies
sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com
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Examiner Reader said:
Read through the lines. All this article is about is a Sheriff trying to discredit good things that are happening in a county. The UCR is the most accurate means of analying serious crime for mostpolice departments in the U.S..... They are just trying to expand their department by discrediting other's good work and this is the only way they know how to do it! The people in Carroll County think that they pay alot for the MSP, wait until they get a county police force - then they will really pay no matter what this guy says - just look at the property taxes and expenses in other counties.
136 agree | 121 disagree
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Concerned Resident said:
It sounds as if the State Police have adjusted the crime stats to save their outdated resident trooper program ! Doesnt crime go up when they want more money for troopers in Carroll County ?
148 agree | 131 disagree
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Annapolis Defense Attorney said:
Yeah don't and don't forget about all of those bong cases that go unreported each year! Thank God we pay taxes to the police to stop those horrible criminals.
170 agree | 127 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
500 or 1,000 more poilce officers will not help. The base problem is lack of respect, which starts in the home. Once the population realizes that the police and teachers can not be the parents to your kids, this whole sad situation may turn around.
164 agree | 153 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Could it be Management? Has anyone asked that question? Now that we have looked at numbers let's look at the quality of the leadership. At this point it is not about how many police, it is about what they are doing. Where is the strategic plan? That is why Mitchell's plan of the three Mayoral contenders is so weak. These folks can't get think outside of the box, and the entire city is suffering.
169 agree | 154 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Clearly, based on the above article, it is not that we have too few police. Other cities have close to the same number in proportion to their population but less crime and homicide. This tells me that the policedepartment is malfunctioning. Before we get more officers we need to put the ones we have to good use.
158 agree | 136 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Kareem Timmons was an ex-boyfriend of mine about 10 years ago. I miss him and loved him dearly. He was a very kind hearted person.
204 agree | 179 disagree
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