The Crisis Of Baltimore City : A Widespread Effect On The Entire Population

Baltimore city had a strong economy, and it was among the top prosperous cities in the United States (U.S)leadingin wages, jobs, and industries up until the 1950s. Since the 1960s, however, the city has seen a decline in its economy as a result of systematic governance failures. Recently, Baltimore has been experiencing an increase in homicide unlike prior years, and in fact, by the end of 2015, various law enforcement organizations predict the city will break its homicide record. As a citizen, Baltimore’s murder rate is a crucial issue to tackle than police brutality because it is symptom indicative of larger issues that need to be addressed and solved in the black community. Three major issues often talked about in Baltimore

Baltimore, the largest city in Maryland, is located in the northern portion of the state on the Patapsco River estuary, a division of Chesapeake Bay. The city is self-governing and does not fall within any county. (Baltimore, Md., 2015) The vast majority of this city is poverty stricken, which makes it vulnerable to high crime rates. In the first six months of 2013 Baltimore had reported 117 homicides, with a population of 622, 104, (CITY DATA, 2015) this gives the city a rate of 18.8 per 100,000. It was one of few cities that year to actually see an increase in homicides; it was stated by Their City Police Commissioner that more than half of their homicides were related to drugs. Even though, the amount of violent crimes dwindled in 2013,

Jon Stewart’s Baltimore report focuses on the lack of urgency within the city council. Stewart opens up with comparing older riots to the “lawless” acts in Baltimore. It was made clear that Baltimore was in shambles prior to the protests that broke out due to Freddie Gray’s death. Stewart also explains that people should stop ignoring the roots of the problems in the communities.

The Newark uprising of 1967 was the result of many different forms of injustices directed against the black community in Newark. Police brutality was one of the major factors that contributed to the people’s uprising. When governor Hughes appointed a committee to investigate the causes of the uprising and the ways to improve the relationship between the police and the Newark’s community, there were many testimonies and evidences that proved that police brutality was one of the major causes leading to the uprising. Despite all the data and the evidences that the Governor’s Commission Report (GSCCD) included and the testimonies of many people that witnessed the uprising, the Report of the New Jersey State Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) rejected the findings to the Governor’s Commission Report and claimed that police brutality was just a stereotype in the African American neighborhoods. They suggested that the main reason that caused the uprising was the “weakness of official response” (PBA Report ix) to criminal acts done by members of the black community. This paper will focus mainly on assessing the arguments made by the PBA report and comparing them with the GSCCD report and the testimonies of the witnesses of the uprising.

This is just an example of everyday living in Watts. One resident said living in Watts is like a "living hell." Homelessness, poverty, lack of resources and programs, gang violence and drugs is only part of the problem. While many feel African Americans have made huge strides, rising in professions and positions of leadership, there is still a crisis in the Black community. Radio host and activist in Baltimore, Farajii Muhammad draws a connection between the Black Lives Matter protest and Watts Riots. Muhammad feels present day Baltimore is reminiscent of Watts in 1965 due to the "same economic conditions, the same employment conditions, the lack of educational opportunities and just the overall culture of violence and hopelessness (Mozingo & Jennings,

While the population is diverse, the economic and class structure are not. The city is segregated amongst social and class lines that have caused conflict between the residence and the police force for some time (Inkeep, 2015). Because of these past interactions between the Baltimore citizens and police, the events pose sociological interests that are different from other recent riots and protests. In addition, the context is different because unlike past riots where ethnic race was a contributor, this riot was more about social injustice

City Heights East is divided by many different ethnicities. There is 54.3% Hispanic, 20.9% Asian, 15% Black, 7.3% White, 2.2% mixed, and 0.3% other. With this data we can see that there is is range of different ethnicities and not one fully overrides other. This is a diverse community with some great cultures throughout. With this comes crime. With a total of about 30 assaults in the past year, there needs to be a sense of community rather than a sense of territory. Within this sections it will review the cost of living, the employment rates, the school’s, and the community organization. These are all important when looking at a specific crime and how to improve it within the community.

Social and economic disparities are plaguing the city of Baltimore. There are numerous issues that the city of Baltimore is facing, many of which did not come to light until the case of Freddie Gray. On April 2015, a 25-year-old black man by the name of Freddie Gray fell victim to police brutality. After the discovery of his death and the unreasonable way he was treated, Baltimoreans began to protest. The anger and frustration began to escalate due to other social and economic problems the city faces regularly.

The shooting of sparked a nation-wide movement not only demanding justice for Mike Brown, but also protesting the racial discrimination deeply embedded in the criminal justice system as well as various institutions in the larger American society. Furthermore, jfdkjfjdakljk something about international recognition. Similar protests and riots have been springing up in other cities since 1960s, and police killings of unarmed black men happen once every 28 hours (Kahle, 2014). However, Michael Brown’s killing has led to the most sustained uprising against police violence in at least two decades, centered among the African American residents of Ferguson, and has rallied significant nationwide support as well as international attention (Kahle, 2014; Taylor, 2014). The killing of Michael Brown is by no means an isolated event, and presence of racial tensions, especially in the St. Louis area, was already present long before. The large-scale pushback that the killing of Michael Brown has set in motion, then, seems to have been the last straw, prompting the eruption of decades of pent up frustration at a racist and oppressive system. That being said, what are the previous straws that have slowly pushed the black community in Ferguson to the breaking point? What are the factors that have caused these tensions to boil over and erupt into such a large-scale upheaval? This paper will explore some of the

3. Suppose you are the mayor of Chicago and you’ve just read all the facts of Hernando’s murder of Sarah Gould. In a memo to your chief of police, what suggestions might you make to improve the structure of the city’s law enforcement to help prevent this sort of crime from happening again? I would suggest an increase in police patrols of the South Side to include an outreach program to include the citizens of the area to help instill in that community a sense of pride and moral obligation to fellow citizens. Unfortunately, the problems on the South Side of Chicago persist today and if the citizens of that area do not work as a whole together, along with law enforcement, to try and reduce the violence

Crime is something that happens every day. Many people fear it, but it is a factor that people cannot escape. In places, like Detroit, people are surrounded by violent crime. Either they are the victims of it, or the committers, but it was not always like this. During the sixties, Detroit was one of the most lucrative cities in the country. Many people moved there to seek jobs in the automotive factories which increased the population to 1.85 million. (Padnani, 2013) However, this is not the case now. Many of the factories have moved, putting people and their families at a disadvantage. A numerous amount of workers relied on these jobs to feed their families. Since then, Detroit has faced a significant amount of hardships that has caused the city to deteriorate effecting education, employment, and the crime rate each factor acts as a chain reaction. The lack of diversity in the city can be a factor of the crime rate as well because Detroit is filled with a large population of minorities. Many politicians have looked for ways to solve the problem, but nothing has been proven to work.

During the 1990s, a decrease in the employment sectors many black middle class families moved out into Baltimore County. The cost of housing made it difficult to sustain the cost of living. In 2014, the number of Whites within Baltimore had the highest number in migration. However, within the white population a better advantage of resources were available such as loans, jobs, entertainment, education, and technology making it easier to live within Baltimore. Gentrification has pushed Blacks with low income to move out while the White population continues to move into Baltimore because of the access to better quality of life. Many within this type of White population have higher education, are able to save and plan to start families, and moved due to housing related purposes.

Sometimes people fail to realize we need law and order in our communities. Again, those in the law enforcement are not above the law. We all need each other’s support in a community and riots is not the answer. The police are there to protect, keep citizens safe and show the society the importance of law. Despite that some police officers brutally took certain people’s lives, today it creates a lack of trust for them. People no longer respect or cherish police presence. The Louisiana flood is a proof that communities need the presence of law enforcement officers. The police showed their commitment by extending their hands to rescue even those could have challenged them during recent the Louisiana riot.

Race and oppression are some of the contributing factors, and seem to be common threads in many violent encounters between rioters and police. There are several similarities between the Los Angeles and Baltimore riots. Communities and law enforcement organizations must analyze the root cause and improve relationships before, during, and after these encounters. Law enforcement leaders must take initiative to successfully handle the crisis and anticipate the community’s expectations to the desired response.

In 1992 the city of Los Angeles was one of our nation’s largest cities. It had an estimated population of over 9 million.1 The city had been in a deteriorating state for several years. There also had been tension growing between the citizens and the police for nearly the last 30 years. This had a lot to do with riots that occurred in Los Angeles back in the 1960’s.2