“Geography is fate,” the Greek philosopher Heraclitus wrote.
In Baltimore, geography may not be fate. But it might determine whether you get a field interview from a cop or a punch in the face. At least, that’s how I interpret the thrust of a ruling by Baltimore Circuit Judge John C. Themelis last week.
The case involved a matter you may have heard or read about: Back in January, the Baltimore Police Department conducted an “integrity test” when a citizen complained about an excessive use of force by one of its officers. An undercover detective pretended to be a run-of-the-mill suspect. A false 911 call about a “suspicious person” was made to Officer Jerome K. Hill, who punched the undercover detective in the face when he approached him.
OK, OK. So it sounds like entrapment. But that’s not why Themelis acquitted Hill, who apparently had the good sense to ask to be tried by a judge, not 12 Baltimore jurors who have a rep for being, well, skeptical about police testimony.
According to news reports, Themelis acquitted Hill because he didn’t want to second-guess the officer’s actions. Police, Themelis said, have to make snap decisions in dangerous situations.
Touché, Judge Themelis. You’re absolutely right. Policing is dangerous work. But consider this: So is being a civilian, if that civilian runs across the wrong group of cops.
I can hear the howls of protest now. Many will disagree with me. Two who won’t are the ghosts of Amadou Diallo and Sean Bell, two young black men who died in a hail of New York police bullets only to have the department cry “Whoops!” after the smoke cleared and the bodies were bagged.
Themelis said something else in court that drew a response from Assistant State’s Attorney Thomas A. Krehely.
“Some of the things I’ve heard that happen in the inner city don’t happen in Guilford or Roland Park,” Themelis said, alluding to that “geography is fate” thing.
Margaret Burns, a spokeswoman for the state’s attorney’s office, said that Krehely challenged Themelis’ remark, after which the judge made a clarification.
According to published news reports, Themelis said he meant that cops might use one tone of voice in Guilford or Roland Park and another in, oh, say West Baltimore or Southwest Baltimore.
Oh really? On Tuesday I made a call to Themelis’ chambers. I figured that clarification needed some clarifying. I live in Pimlico, which isn’t exactly the inner city. But it sure as heck ain’t Roland Park or Guilford either. And I expect Baltimore’s finest to address me EXACTLY the way they would talk to folks in Roland Park or Guilford.
And the fact is, Baltimore police officers do precisely that. In early May I had a minor fender-bender at the corner of Garrison and Denmore avenues. The idiot who caused the accident took off; I called the cops. A female officer responded and waited with me while a tow truck arrived. A male officer joined her later. The two couldn’t have been more courteous or professional.
I never got a return call from Themelis, but I didn’t expect I would. Judges don’t usually return calls from pesky journalists asking about their rulings, and I can’t blame them. If they did, they’d spend more time on the phone explaining their decisions than handing them down.
But I sure hope that Themelis wasn’t implying that where you live in Baltimore depends on whether you get polite, routine questioning from a cop or a punch in the face. I hope he wasn’t saying cops should be polite to Roland Parkers and rude to folks in Sandtown-Winchester.
I don’t think he was. I prefer to think that Themelis was saying this: Baltimore police have to deal with some pretty dangerous criminals in this city, and frankly, some of those criminals will be roughed up by cops doing their jobs.
I’d have put it another way: Some people in this world simply need to get their butts kicked. Some of those people are criminals here in Baltimore, and a butt-kicking is the only language some of them will understand.
But cops should be forewarned: If you’re going to start with the butt-kicking or the face-punching, be sure you’ve got the right guys.
Gregory Kane is a columnist who has been writing about Maryland and Baltimore for more than 15 years. Look for his columns on the Editorial Page every Thursday and Sunday.
