Baltimore City Police Commissioner Michael Harrison Proposes $53M Toward Crime Investigation Efforts In Pitch To City Council
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- On Monday, Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison was given five days to create a crime plan.
Harrison delivered his proposal to City Council on Friday night at City Hall.
The budget presentation with the Council lasted over two hours and in his opening statement he said the first step is, "admitting we have a problem."
The plan to correct that problem is an expensive one.
"I intend to hold everyone in the Baltimore City Police Department accountable," Harrison said.
Key parts of Harrison's plan are organization, restructure and enhancing recruiting efforts. Harrison said that 37 recruits are set to begin class on Monday.
"Many of these efforts already begun before I arrived," Harrison said. "In the future, we want to make sure the staffing plans guide our effort in implementing future phases of the civilization and professionalism of the BPD."
With 130 homicides so far this year, part of Harrison's plan includes proposing $53 million on crime investigation.
"17.5 percent of this year's budget request is set aside for administration and information technology, and let's be honest, the information technology part is not a substantial part of that amount," Harrison said.
There have been 463 gun arrests so far in 2019. That's down 12 percent compared to last year.
