The dramatic drop in Baltimore City’s homicide rate has coincided with a sharp fall of another statistic: arrests.
Baltimore police are on track to make about 20,000 fewer arrests this year than in 2005, a 25 percent decline. Meanwhile the city’s homicide rate has fallen to the lowest level in three decades, raising questions about the benefit of the highly touted zero-tolerance policy that led to nearly 750,000 arrests between 1999 and 2006, but made little dent in the number of homicides.
“It’s really not a matter of how many people are arrested, but are those quality arrests that help us take criminals off the streets,” said city State’s Attorney Patricia Jessamy. “I wouldn’t want to go back to zero tolerance.”
Jessamy was sharply criticized for her outspoken take on Baltimore’s “zero-tolerance” policy, which emphasized so-called “quality-of-life” arrests for loitering and drinking outdoors to deter more serious crimes.
But the combative prosecutor, who said she wouldn’t be a “rubber stamp” for the policy, said the lower arrest rate has fostered better cooperation between her agency and the police department.
“Honestly, if 11,000 arrests were made, I wouldn’t mind, but the emphasis has to be on quality,” she said.
The city abandoned the zero-tolerance strategy when then-interim Mayor Sheila Dixon adopted a “targeted enforcement” plan that focused on repeat offenders. The new strategy has led to better arrests, and more importantly, fewer dropped cases, said police spokesman Sterling Clifford.
“The fact that the number of people released without charges dropped 15 percent last year and 20 percent this year is a sign that we are arresting the right people,” he said.
One of the biggest proponents of the zero-tolerance policy, City Councilman James Kraft, D-District 1, conceded the drop in arrests forced him to rethink the policy.
“I wouldn’t negate the whole concept but I do think there is some merit to the argument against it,” he said. “Concentrating on the bad guys has had a direct impact on the reduction of shootings and murders.”
Criminologists said Baltimore’s zero tolerance was flawed, focusing too heavily on the number of arrests and not enough on intelligence-gathering.
“When people apply it at a superficial level and ignore the deeper purpose, it tends to just alienate upstanding citizens,” said Doug Ward, director of the division of public safety at Johns Hopkins University.
“Community policing isn’t in vogue, but having a good relationship between officers and community is how you solve crimes,” he said.
At least one city resident who fought to have his “quality-of-life” arrest expunged is trying to turn his own experience into a positive career move. Eric Smith, 38, who was arrested for trespassing inside his own apartment after he called police during a dispute with his girlfriend in April 2005, said he is in the process of joining the city police force.
“At the time the arrest happened I wanted to join the Secret Service, but I had the arrest and the age cutoff was 37 so I missed it,” said Smith of the trespassing charges that were later dropped.
“l already know how important it is to work with the community based on my own experience,” he said. “I will definitely keep that in mind when I’m an officer.”
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