Baltimore City crime and schools were on the minds of about 30 black and Pakistani business professionals who raised $10,000 for Mayor Sheila Dixon at a campaign fundraiser in Clarksville.
“A police officer on every corner is not going to make a difference,” she said Tuesday night, referring to recent news about Baltimore having the second highest murder rate among large U.S. cities. “Most of the people killing each other know who their victim is,” she said.
Dixon blamed the State?s Attorney Office for not aggressively prosecuting the people being arrested.
“We have a messed-up judicial system,” she said.
Clarence Wooten, a Columbia resident who grew up in the city, asked about programs to keep preteens from getting involved in crime.
“We have the programs,” the mayor said, including after-school and mentoring programs. “It?s a matter of marketing” them to youth and their parents.
Pervaiz Khan, owner of a 24-hour gas station in the city, asked about increasing police patrols late at night.
Dixon said the police force was still 145 officers short, and “retention is something we need to work on” as experienced officers take higher-paying jobs in the suburbs.
When questioned about the school system, Dixon noted the divided responsibility between the state and city, which she believes should have complete control.
She said leadership needs to be more stable, since there have been 10 CEOs and superintendents in the last decade.
Howard County Human Rights Administrator and former Councilman Vernon Gray said Dixon “has an excellent and aggressive agenda.”
“I?ve met a lot of leaders,” said Henry Posko, president of the Humanim, a provider of disabilities services in the city, and Dixon stands out as someone has “a real genuineness and knows how to develop relationships.”
