Loitering laws could expand to cover residential areas ? potentially increasing police power to crack down on gang activity ? if two lawmakers have their way in Annapolis.
Delegates Pat McDonough and Richard Impallaria, both Republicans whose districts straddle Baltimore and Harford counties, have sponsored a bill that would apply to both jurisdictions. Existing laws only prohibit loitering in commercial areas, McDonough said.
“This is pro-neighborhood and pro-quality of life,” McDonough said. “It?s a very important tool for law enforcement, especially with the growing presence of gang bangers and juveniles on the streets.”
While Baltimore County?s police department spokesman Bill Toohey said he could not comment on the bill until he saw it, he acknowledged gangs are a growing threat. If people congregate on a residential street corner and don?t break the law, police have no reason to disperse them, Toohey said.
McDonough said he hoped the bill, if adopted, would provide law enforcement officers the necessary probable cause to search loitering juveniles, possibly yielding weapons, drugs or “bigger fish” than a misdemeanor charge.
About 35 street gangs operate in Baltimore County, with at least one in every precinct, according to a state-funded Web site operated by the University of Maryland. Half are neighborhood or school gangs and half identify with national gangs.
Harford County has enough of a gang problem that it became a major campaign issue in the last sheriff?s election. A gang suppression unit was created two years ago after a taxi driver was robbed and murdered in a gang initiation rite. The Sheriff?s Office has said it is aware of at least 10 gangs in the county, including the Bloods and Crips.
