Hampden bar owners say police have better things to do than hassle customers smoking outside since the ban.
They?re right. Tobacco kills, but c?mon officers, don?t you have worse crime to fight than alleged loitering? And since when is standing briefly outside a bar you patronize loitering? Smokers certainly are not idle or aimless, two key components of loitering. In fact, smokers are some of the most focused, purpose-driven people in the world when they need a cigarette.
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Benn Ray, head of the Hampden Village Merchants Association and owner of Atomic Books, asked, “Why all of a sudden is the police department being aggressive with smokers when they haven?t been enforcing loitering laws for 10 years?” In an e-mailed letter to public officials Sunday Ray said the Baltimore City Police Department has not responded to requests to increase patrols during the holidays, festivals or in response to an increase in crime in the neighborhood. So the new attention to loitering seems a bit late and heavy-handed in light of the community?s real problems.
That makes the health inspection Friday evening with the assistance of police officers in a Hampden bar suspicious. Maybe the timing was a coincidence, but for restaurant owners it sends the message to keep quiet or face consequences.
As Ray wrote, “Misunderstandings and poor communication can often result in an unproductive, adversarial relationship between public servants and those they serve.”
The police department should quickly answer the community?s questions.
And it should return to the policing tactics at least in part responsible for the major downturn in homicides in recent months. Mayor Sheila Dixon and Police Chief Frederick Bealefeld have done an admirable job reducing violent crime. They must not squander the good will generated by their success by targeting smoking-ban refugees who pose no threat to the community.
