Baltimore’s fight against crime gets $7.9M federal shot in the arm – WBAL TV Baltimore

OFHE T MONEY TO UPGRADE EQUIPMENT FOR TRAINING AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MORAY SCOTT SAYS THE MONEY WILL ALSO BE USED FOR PROGRAM. THAT BENEFIT VICTIMS .WEVE GOT TO JUST ADMIT ONE THING. WEING. ARE STILL A VERY VIOLTEN CITY CONGRESSMAN QUITE EASY AND FUMI AND OTHER MEMBERS OF MARYLANDS CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION CAME TO TOWN ANNOUNCING FEDERAL HPEL IS ON THE WAY. THEY EARMARKEA NRLY 8 MILLION DOLLSAR FOR BALTIMORES CRIME FIGHT. STATE CRISIS HOTLINE HE ERSOME TWO MILLION DOLLARS UP. GOES TOWARD BALTIMORES 911 DIVERSION PROGRAM A PNEHO BANK OF COUNSELING PROFESSIONALS WHO HANDLE MENTAL HEAHLT ISSUES FREEING POLICE TO DEAL WITH VIOLENT CRIME. THATLL TAKE A LOT OFF OF OUR POLICE AND LET THEM DO T JHEOB, YOU KNOW THAT THEY NEED TO DO ANOTHER TWO MILLION WILL GO TOWARD UP. POLICE EQUIPMENT HELPING THE DEPARTMENT WITH CONSENT DECREE COMPLIANCE RECORDS MANAGEMENT IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF US USING A RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. THAT WAS 2 300 YEARS OLD NOW, WE HAVE A BRAND NEW ONE THAT BRINGS US OUT OF THE PAPER AGE INTO THE DIGITAL AGE. 650,000 FEDERAL DOLLARS WILL BE SPENT ON POLICE TRAININGO T ENHANCE COMMUNITY RELATIONS. IT WILL ALSO FUND A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR TO HELP IN THAT EFFORTOR F THOSE WHO DONT KNOW NEIGHBORHOOD POLICING PLANS ENGAGE COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO DEVELOP INTENTIONAL LARETIONSHIPS WITH OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS SO THAT TOGEERTH TAKEN ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES IDENTIFIED WHERE THEY LIVE NONPROFSIT THAT HAVE ANTI-VIOLENCE INITIATIVES WILL GET FEDERAL FUNDING THIS INCLUDES LIVING CLASSOMROS LIKE BRIDGE HEALTH UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SHOCK TRAUMA ROCA, THATS SELF-BALTIMORES PEACEMAKING PILOT PROGRAM AND MARYLANDERS TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE. WE CANNOT AND WILL NOT ADVANCE OUR VISION FOR EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE APPROACHO T PUBLIC SAFETY WITHOUT CENTENGRI OUR COMMUNITIES AND TACKLING VIOLENCE AS A PUBLIC HEALTH. ISSUE, EACH OF THESE INITIATIVES ARE THERE TO HELP US DEAL WITH PUBLIC SAFETY WHEN FAMILIE ARE IN PAIN WHEN COMMUNITIESRE A IN PAIN THAT MIGRATES TO VIOLENCE AND YOU HAVE TO CEOM UP WITH INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES TO RESPOND TO THAT TREO SPOND TO THAT PAIN. MAYOR SCOTT SAYS THE MONEY IS GOING TO PLACES AND PROGRAMS THAT RESIDENTS HAVE CALLED FOR REPORTING LIVE ON THE BISHOP ROBINSON POLICE HEADQUARTER

Baltimore's fight against crime gets $7.9M federal shot in the arm

$2M to go toward updating police equipment, which also helps city meet consent decree compliance requirements

Updated: 6:13 PM EDT Apr 29, 2022

The fight against crime in Baltimore City is getting a $7.9 million federal shot in the arm.The Maryland congressional delegation on Friday joined Mayor Brandon Scott and police Commissioner Michael Harrison to detail where the money will go -- and the police department will receive the bulk of the money."We got to just admit one thing: We are still a very violent city," said U.S. Kwiesi Mfume, D-District 7."I think we all know there's no one solution here, but we are working to try to make sure we piece together a series of funds to address the issue of violent crime in Baltimore City, and we all know you need a comprehensive approach here," said U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland.City police will use the money to upgrade equipment and for police training and community policing. The balance of the funds will be shared by nonprofit groups for victim-assistance programs.Some $2 million of federal money will go toward Baltimore's 911 diversion program, a phone bank of counseling professionals who handle mental health crises, freeing police to deal with violent crime.| RELATED: Program to allow diversion of mental health calls from 911 to crisis hotline"Police get a lot of calls that are drug-related, mental-health related, those type of things. And, we want those calls to go to people who can handle them the best and shouldn't be in the criminal justice system. That will take a lot off of our police and let them do the job they need to do," said U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-District 2.Another $2 million will go toward updating police equipment, which also helps the city meet consent decree compliance requirements."Records management is a classic example of us using a records management system that was 20, 30 years old. Now we have a brand-new one that brings us out of the paper age into the digital age," Harrison said.Another $650,000 in federal funding will be spent on police training to enhance community relations. It will also fund a community engagement coordinator to help in the effort."Neighborhood policing plans engage community members to develop intentional relationships with our law enforcement officers so that, together, they can address the challenges identified where they live," said Shantay Jackson, director of the Baltimore Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement."These are all community centered initiatives things that residents are calling for," Scott said.Nonprofit groups that have antiviolence initiatives will also get federal funding, which includes Living Classrooms, LifeBridge Health, Shock Trauma, Roca, the South Baltimore Peacemaking Project Pilot and Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence."Each of these initiatives are there to help us deal with public safety," said U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland."When families are in pain, when communities are in pain, that migrates to violence. And, you have to come up with innovative strategies to respond to that pain," said U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes, D-District 3.Brooklyn residents wonder what can be done to stop the violenceAs Baltimore City leaders hope the funding will help in crime and violence reduction, police are investigating another homicide.Brooklyn is a neighborhood where police and community groups are working together. But some who live on a block where there were two killings in a matter of months wonder what else can be done to stop the violence.A boarded-up house with crumbling steps is near the corner where multiple shots were fired just after midnight Thursday, killing a man in his 20s. Candles serve as a memorial on Fifth Street in Brooklyn.Dezirey Croley said because of the loudness and rapid succession, she first thought someone set off fireworks."I was petrified," Croley said. "Pop, pop, pop pop. I was shaking."Then, she realized it was gunfire."I grabbed my son and started running," she said.Fellow resident Stacy Cudnik also heard the shots and wondered what it was."It was 18 pops. It was so fast. I can't tell the difference between guns and fireworks. It seemed too fast and too loud that it could have been a gun, but it was," Cudnik said.Croley said police found bullet casings near the side and in front of a parked van.Residents in Brooklyn said another shooting left a person dead about two months ago on the same street less than a half a block away. A memorial also stands at that scene. The residents told 11 News both shooting victims were friends.Baltimore police said, with the latest killing in Brooklyn, the city has had 110 homicides so far this year, compared to 100 at the same time last year.

The fight against crime in Baltimore City is getting a $7.9 million federal shot in the arm.

The Maryland congressional delegation on Friday joined Mayor Brandon Scott and police Commissioner Michael Harrison to detail where the money will go -- and the police department will receive the bulk of the money.

"We got to just admit one thing: We are still a very violent city," said U.S. Kwiesi Mfume, D-District 7.

"I think we all know there's no one solution here, but we are working to try to make sure we piece together a series of funds to address the issue of violent crime in Baltimore City, and we all know you need a comprehensive approach here," said U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland.

City police will use the money to upgrade equipment and for police training and community policing. The balance of the funds will be shared by nonprofit groups for victim-assistance programs.

Some $2 million of federal money will go toward Baltimore's 911 diversion program, a phone bank of counseling professionals who handle mental health crises, freeing police to deal with violent crime.

| RELATED: Program to allow diversion of mental health calls from 911 to crisis hotline

"Police get a lot of calls that are drug-related, mental-health related, those type of things. And, we want those calls to go to people who can handle them the best and shouldn't be in the criminal justice system. That will take a lot off of our police and let them do the job they need to do," said U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-District 2.

Another $2 million will go toward updating police equipment, which also helps the city meet consent decree compliance requirements.

"Records management is a classic example of us using a records management system that was 20, 30 years old. Now we have a brand-new one that brings us out of the paper age into the digital age," Harrison said.

Another $650,000 in federal funding will be spent on police training to enhance community relations. It will also fund a community engagement coordinator to help in the effort.

"Neighborhood policing plans engage community members to develop intentional relationships with our law enforcement officers so that, together, they can address the challenges identified where they live," said Shantay Jackson, director of the Baltimore Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement.

"These are all community centered initiatives things that residents are calling for," Scott said.

Nonprofit groups that have antiviolence initiatives will also get federal funding, which includes Living Classrooms, LifeBridge Health, Shock Trauma, Roca, the South Baltimore Peacemaking Project Pilot and Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence.

"Each of these initiatives are there to help us deal with public safety," said U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland.

"When families are in pain, when communities are in pain, that migrates to violence. And, you have to come up with innovative strategies to respond to that pain," said U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes, D-District 3.

As Baltimore City leaders hope the funding will help in crime and violence reduction, police are investigating another homicide.

Brooklyn is a neighborhood where police and community groups are working together. But some who live on a block where there were two killings in a matter of months wonder what else can be done to stop the violence.

A boarded-up house with crumbling steps is near the corner where multiple shots were fired just after midnight Thursday, killing a man in his 20s. Candles serve as a memorial on Fifth Street in Brooklyn.

Dezirey Croley said because of the loudness and rapid succession, she first thought someone set off fireworks.

"I was petrified," Croley said. "Pop, pop, pop pop. I was shaking."

Then, she realized it was gunfire.

"I grabbed my son and started running," she said.

Fellow resident Stacy Cudnik also heard the shots and wondered what it was.

"It was 18 pops. It was so fast. I can't tell the difference between guns and fireworks. It seemed too fast and too loud that it could have been a gun, but it was," Cudnik said.

Croley said police found bullet casings near the side and in front of a parked van.

Residents in Brooklyn said another shooting left a person dead about two months ago on the same street less than a half a block away. A memorial also stands at that scene. The residents told 11 News both shooting victims were friends.

Baltimore police said, with the latest killing in Brooklyn, the city has had 110 homicides so far this year, compared to 100 at the same time last year.

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Baltimore's fight against crime gets $7.9M federal shot in the arm - WBAL TV Baltimore