For city drug dealers looking to leave the business, the Baltimore City Police Department has a standing offer: Give them a call, and they?ll help you find a job.
Even if you have an extensive criminal record, police are actually willing to help find a job, not just lock you up.
Eric Norman, 35, spent seven years in prison on drug-related offenses before he joined the program. After taking a job through the program at Checkers restaurant to Dundalk in Baltimore County, he?s moved up to a position at Sparrows Point. Norman said he is happier, though not wealthier.
“I would rather have a minimum-wage job than a million dollars in jail,” Norman said.
“No matter how much you have in the bank, you can only spend
$85 a week at the prison commissary.”
According to the officers who staff it, the year-old program, called “Get Out of the Game,” is changing the perception of the police department in many of Baltimore?s most violent neighborhoods.
“We?re not rolling up in squad cars. We?re trying to help,” said Officer Kevin Robinson.
For Robinson and his fellow officers Keith Harrison and Robert Horne, their roles as outreach officers has been a bit of an adjustment, talking people out of committing a crime before it happens. They think the proactive approach is groundbreaking.
“We try to get to them before it?s too late,” Harrison said. “We?re changing the way police work is done.”
The premise of the program is simple. Officers visit high-crime neighborhoods bearing fliers and T-shirts, not guns and nightsticks. The officers tell young men to call the number on the flier if they need a job, counseling or simply someone to talk to.
“The only mentors these kids have are drug dealers with expensive cars,” Harrison said. “They need an alternative opportunity.”
The program helps enrollees find jobs with companies like Checkers, vouching for participants and following up: “We definitely check up on everyone to make sure they keep their commitments,” Horne said.
Horne sees the aftermath of the city?s violent streets on a daily basis: “A young man sentenced to life in prison may never see the streets again,” he said.
The program has enrolled 168 people, with 30 pending cases that have not yet been processed.
