Baltimore area officials address crime across city lines at neighborhood meeting
BALTIMORE -- On Tuesday night, neighborhood residents gathered together at the Mount Pleasant Church and Ministries and pressed top leaders—including Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley and Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough—for answers about how to solve and prevent crimes.
Happening tonight: City Police Chief Richard Worley and Baltimore County Chief Robert McCullough - as well as state representatives - are joining forces for a Public Safety Meeting. Neighbors say they are fed up with the youth violence and carjackings & demanding solutions @wjz pic.twitter.com/U3rbZFkalr
— Kelsey Kushner (@KelseyKushnerTV) November 28, 2023
They said they are fed up with what they describe as a "catch and release" system that doesn't impose serving time on teens who have committed crimes.
Worley noted that if a person is under the age of 18, then they are arrested and taken to juvenile booking.
Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan Bates was at the meeting, and he described the problem as "a system issue."
"I do believe 1,000% these individuals need to be held accountable," he said.
One of those who showed up to tell her story to city and county officials was Donna Tallent of Holland Hills. The bruise on her face told them a violent story before she even began to speak.
Tallent said she was carjacked by two teenagers in her own backyard in Baltimore County.
"He said, "Give me your keys. Give me your keys," and I'm like, and the next thing I know he hit me in the head, and I went down," she said.
Tallent spent a week and a Thanksgiving holiday recovering from a concussion. Now, she and other people who live in the area are demanding action.
"One thing I will assure you is when they do happen, we put all of our resources on it, and we try to bring those people to justice," McCullough said.
Eric James, a resident of Baltimore's Belair-Edison neighborhood, noted that there had been numerous break-ins at vacant houses and incidents of property destruction in his area.
Other major concerns that cropped up during the meeting included abandoned cars and shooting sprees.
Some people said they wanted to see more resources made available for children in the system.
"If there's no one setting boundaries and there's no one intervening . . . Then they've got nothing to do but keep doing what they're doing," James said.