As the number of unsolved murders in Baltimore continues to climb, police have blamed a “Stop Snitching” culture that discourages witnesses from talking as the primary obstacle to closing cases.
Indeed, at a City Council subcommittee hearing Wednesday, Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld said he understood why witnesses don’t want to cooperate.
“I understand the concern,” the commissioner said. “I understand ‘Stop Snitching.’ I understand gang influences. It’s going to take us years and years and years to restore the faith and trust that we need.”
But Baltimore homicide detectives say privately that reluctant witnesses are not the only problem plaguing the unit.
A staggering caseload, decade-old cars that frequently break down and restrictions on overtime that prevent detectives from working continually on cases have contributed to both low morale and a low closures rate, the detectives say.
“I call it the MASH unit,” said one detective, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “The mentality is just get it done, no matter what.”
Traditionally, the lead detective on a case, known as the “primary,” was given discretion to work past the shift to interview witnesses and attend an autopsy, particularly in the crucial first 48 hours after the murder occurred, the detectives said.
But since a departmentwide crackdown on overtime, the primary detective is often told to go home at the end of the shift, leaving a new detective to interview witnesses, the sources said.
Also, a shortage of working cars has left many detectives waiting in the office, detectives say. Many of the unmarked cars — most are 1996 and 1997 Chevy Luminas — are prone to breakdowns, the detectives said.
“Of course, we have to give a lot of autonomy to detectives to conduct his or her investigations,” said Bob Cherry, president-elect of the police officers union and a homicide detective. “No one knows if it’s going to take four hours or five hours to locate a witness, or if you’re going to have to call the [tactical] unit to execute a search warrant at 11 p.m. … Unfortunately, some of the commanders are just looking to maintain the budgetary issues. It can affect morale.”
Cherry said that cutting overtime, however, did not affect the work ethic of detectives.
“A lot of people think detectives are driven by overtime, but that’s not the case,” he said. “There isn’t a detective down there that doesn’t want to solve cases.”
Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for Bealefeld, said claims that detectives are being denied overtime are “patently untrue.”
“No one is limiting homicide detectives’ overtime,” he said. “I promise you, detectives are free to take whatever time they need to close cases.”
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