It seems like Baltimore police are staging a work slowdown. What can be done about this? Is this a natural consequence of trying to hold police accountable?
May has seen 43 homicides so far, making it Baltimore's deadliest month since 1972. Shootings this month have more than doubled compared to May 2014. Meanwhile, arrests have plummeted since April's unrest in Baltimore, with only 1,177 people arrested so far in May compared to 3,801 in the same month last year. Data accurate as of May 31, 2015
http://www.baltimoresun.com/...
"The criminals are taking advantage of the situation in Baltimore since the unrest," said Gene Ryan, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3. "Criminals feel empowered now. There is no respect. Police are under siege in every quarter. They are more afraid of going to jail for doing their jobs properly than they are of getting shot on duty."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/...
The first link above has additional graphs which illustrate the situation. I will note that the murder rate was already higher than 2014 before Freddie Gray was killed, but the spike is still obvious.
2015 spike in homocides
If this jump in crime is a result of a police slowdown then it is simply not acceptable. I think both conservatives and liberals can agree that some police have always been out of control.
When the dirty cops get caught, they should be rejected by the good cops. The moral code should be stronger than protecting each other at any cost.
One last thing. The number of deaths of people at the hands of criminals dwarfs that of police/civilian deaths. I think the police would justify their violence based on that. Even so, I'm disappointed that the liberal community here and the media are so focused on police violence and virtually not at all focused on the violence within the community.
This is one of the big disconnects between conservatives and liberals. The solution to the violence problem within the communities might be the solution to police violence against the community.