City police receive federal grant for gun suppression ...

[spin]

$300k will fund plainclothes deployment, evaluation of effectiveness
5:53 p.m. EDT, October 13, 2010

The Baltimore Police Department has been selected as one of six cities to receive a federal grant to fund and evaluate gun suppression efforts, officials announced Wednesday.

The $300,000 Smart Policing Grant will be used to support the work of the department's Violent Crime Impact Section, a plainclothes deployment of officers focused in East, West and Northwest Baltimore, and the gun offender registry, which helps keep tabs on people convicted of gun offenses.

***snip***

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, who has used the term "bad guys with guns" to describe the targets of his policing strategy, said the blending of enforcement in targeted areas and the focus on individual gun offenders in Baltimore has been a "cultural change in the way that we police this city."

Baltimore has seen a significant drop in gun crime since many of the current strategies were begun. As of Oct. 6, 2007, there had been 768 total shootings in the city, including 234 killings. But as of Oct. 6 of this year, that number had dropped to 483 total shootings, with 163 killed.

While shootings continue to plummet, the homicide total has largely remained unchanged since a large drop in 2008. This year's number is tracking closely with the total from 2008 and 2009, and the city remains among the most violent in the country.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-bad-guys-20101013,0,1994868.story

This should be the future direction of gun control in our country. Take guns away from the bad guys, not the honest citizens.

[damntexdem]

1. Sounds good.

Of course, note the word "evaluate." The effectiveness of the approach needs to be assessed before any decision is made on whether it is "the answer," or even "an answer."

[PavePusher]

2. I am at a loss to understand why catching and arresting and charging...

"bad guys with guns" requires any studies or federal monies.

Self-evident isn't what it used to be, I guess. :eyes:

[Katya Mullethov]

3. Fools rush in

Wouldn't want 'em to do anything rash would we ? Running about willy nillie refusing plea bargains from violent offenders is not an action to be taken lightly .

[spin]

6. The local government often hates to spend money on law enforcement ...

for years and years they have been able to complain that with stricter gun control the crime problem would magically go away.

Recently the well has begun to run dry. Those who support RKBA have been winning battles all over our nation and now most states have "shall issue" concealed carry and many have castle doctrine and "stand your ground" law. The sale of firearms has increased dramatically in the last few years, yet the violent crime rate is decreasing.

One of the more recent excuses for strict gun control in the cities is large urban areas are different from rural areas and therefore need stricter gun laws. The drawback is that many large cities in our nation have laws that the Brady Campaign considers lax but their crime rate is no worse and is often better than the large urban areas with strict gun law. And, of course, a citizen in a large city should have the same freedoms and rights set forth by the Bill of Rights as a citizen in the rural areas.

Local government has plenty of projects that they want for their city and law enforcement is often takes a low priority. Offer the city government a hand out and they will happily take it. If nothing else they would look bad politically if they refuse.

[oneshooter]

4. I don't really care for the term "gun suppression"

It may be used by the BPD as an excuse to harass legal gun owners.

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[spin]

5. Possible. So far I haven't read of any incidents ...

where honest gun owners were harassed, but it's something to watch out for.

[SteveM]

7. Sounds like a version of the repeat-felons registry...

Whereby LEOs keep special tabs on repeat felons when they are released for incarceration (all too frequently), and go after them as the "usual suspects" in similar crimes. This may work, but it should be kept in mind that the City of Baltimore has a record of Second Amendment hostility.