City Council President Sheila Dixon, who will soon become Baltimore mayor, said Friday she will look into the Baltimore Police Department?s arrest policies. An average of 253 people are arrested every day in the city, 47 of whom are not charged, according to statistics from the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
“I have been pondering over a plan,” Dixon said during a press conference at City Hall. “It is an area that we?re going to look into.”
In 2005, Baltimore City police arrested 99,981 people ? about 20,000 of whom were released from Central Booking without charges and another 24,206 of whom had their charges dropped in Circuit or District Court.
A March report from a Baltimore City grand jury recommended a 50 percent cut in the number of arrests that do not result in charges by the end of this year, calling the current approach a possible violation of “constitutional rights.”
According to preliminary data this year, police have made progress in this regard ? cutting arrests that do not result in charges by about 7 percent in the months of July, August and September.
“I want to take that grand jury report and meet with the police department and other criminal coordinating efforts to really look at the facts to see where we are and what we need to be doing differently,” Dixon said.
Dixon will automatically become the first female mayor of Baltimore when Mayor Martin O?Malley becomes governor in January.
“I?m excited about it,” she said. “I?m still pinching myself.”
Dixon, who has been under investigation by the state prosecutor?s office over her alleged involvement with city money that went to companies employing her friends and family, said she believed she can be an effective mayor despite the probe.
“I believe I can govern effectively,” she said.
“I have cooperated with the state prosecutor. There has been no wrong doing.”
Dixon said she wants to clean up the debris and blight that plague many parts of Baltimore, including the Park Heights community. She added that city schools are adequately funded, but need more consistent leadership from a “stable school board.
Dixon also gave a vote of confidence to City Council Vice President Stephanie Rawlings Blake, saying she is “more than capable” of being an effective president.
