Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and other Baltimore city officials announced the indictments of 12 individuals believed to be members of a drug trafficking organization after the city conducted a four-month long investigation in the city’s Irvington neighborhood, located on the Southside of Baltimore.
During a March 14 press conference, Mayor Scott said that the indictments represented an important development for reducing crime in the city. “This is about going after those responsible for driving violence across our city and inflicting harm upon our communities.”
“Sending young men to prison is not our goal. But if you do not take us up, if you do not change your life, this will also happen to you. That is the only choice that you have.”
Scott continued, “When you tell us to pound sand, and we’re going to do what we want to do anyway, I don’t play poker, I don’t bluff. This is what’s going to happen to you.”
The Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) Director Stefanie Mavronis backed up Scott’s claim that the city offered a way out, saying, “In this particular instance, members of this group were invited to a call-in as part of a strategy to offer services and deliver GVRS’s anti-violence message. They, unfortunately, made the choice to decline this outreach and continued participating in activities associated with violence.”
Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley told WBALTV that the community already feels safer, “Since they have removed, these individuals, the community has already reached out saying they are much more comfortable in the space, and they’ve seen an impact in what the officers have done.”
In their conclusion, the Center for American Progress calls for programs like the one in Baltimore to be implemented if America is serious about addressing gun violence in communities nationwide.
“Community-based violence intervention programs are essential for combating the rise in gun violence and violent crime. Their models have not only proven to reduce rates of gun violence, but they are powerful resources in addressing the disproportionate impact of gun violence on communities of color and young people. If the United States is truly to address gun violence and violent crime, CVIs have to be part of the solution.”
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Source: Black Enterprise
