Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm defended city police in the face of a scathing radio ad paid for by Gov. Robert Ehrlich?s campaign that accuses Baltimore Mayor Martin O?Malley of directing the arrests of thousands of mostly black citizens without charging them with a crime.
“We go where we?re called,” Hamm told reporters in an unusual response to a political ad. As the largest city in the state, “we have the greatest crime decrease, and we did it without any state help.”
The radio spot running on black stations is a message from attorney William “Billy” Murphy, a former Circuit Court judge. In it, Murphy says O?Malley “sanctions and directs the arrests of thousands of Baltimore City people ? predominantly black ? without ever charging them with a crime.”
“To make things worse,” Murphy says, “there are thousands who are charged who are never prosecuted because there wasn?t enough evidence to charge them in the first place.”
Murphy blames the situation partly on the city?s seven police commissioners in seven years, demoralizing the police force. This counts the three acting police chiefs between the four permanent ones.
O?Malley said the number of cases dropped is not much different than what he saw in his days as a prosecutor. What may be enough probable cause for police to arrest someone may not be enough to successfully convict them because of reasonable doubt, the mayor said.
Hamm said his officers are “doing a great job.”
