“Due to the recent increase in violent/destructive crime in the Fells Point area, a curfew will be taking effect April 1, 2007 between the hours of 2:30 and 5:30 am,” said a very official-looking Public Notice distributed to residents? homes there March 1. Anyone on the street during those hours without a valid residential or work permit would be fined or jailed, it said.
It was fake.
But it looked real, with an official-looking seal from Mayor Sheila Dixon, her signature, phone number and City Hall-looking Courier font. The perp has yet to be found, according to the mayor?s office.
Only the April Fools? curfew date gave it away.
Was the author/perp comparing Baltimore City Police methods to those used in “1984” ? George Orwell?s grim vision of a totalitarian state? Was he or she making funof residents for wanting a totally safe and secure city life? Trying to light up the phone lines of the mayor?s office with irate callers or maybe even compliant ones? Encouraging people to stay off the streets in an attempt to lower crime? Or even trying to keep people off the streets to make it easier for he or she to commit a crime? Make people laugh? None of the above?
Who knows. The sad fact is this prank was credible.
Why? Because there is plenty of mayhem in the area. According to the unofficial statistics of Baltimore City Police Department?s crime mapping system, there were 11 vehicle break-ins, three burglaries, seven stolen cars, two robberies and three aggravated assaults the last two weeks of February ?? meaning criminals kept up their work even in stormy and brutally cold weather.
Lowering that crime will take long-term cooperation between residents, business owners and the police. We hope the author of the letter focuses his or her obvious communication and distribution skills to build those relationships.
The highly touristed neighborhood needs them a lot more than pranks.
