Introduction
Baltimore is an independent city, founded on July 30, 1729, and established by the Constitution of Maryland. It is the largest city in the state, with a population of 617,734. The city is located about 40 miles northeast of Washington, D.C. Baltimore is an important city with the second-largest seaport in the Mid-Atlantic. The city was named after Lord Baltimore, the Irish House of Lords. In 1970, the city was occupied by abandoned warehouses. The developers tried to redevelop the city and opened the Maryland Science Center in 1976, the Baltimore World Trade Center in 1977, and the Baltimore Convention Center in 1979.
Baltimore Police Department
The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) provides police services to the City of Baltimore in Maryland. It is the eighth-largest police force in the United States and is structured into ten districts: 9 terrestrial and the Public Housing Section. It controls 210 square kilometers of land and 29 square kilometers of watercourses. The department is occasionally referred to as the Baltimore City Police Department to differentiate it from the Baltimore County Police Department.
In April 2017, U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar accepted the planned agreement verdict between the U.S. Department of Justice and Baltimore, instructing extensive police improvements at a time of extreme violence and profound public mistrust in the metropolitan police. He repudiated a Department of Justice appeal to delay signing the verdict for thirty days so as to allow assessment by President Donald Trump’s administration.
History
The first effort to create trained patrols in Baltimore was in 1784, almost 60 years after the formation of the colonial town and eight years after US liberation. The city approved a force of day constables and a night watch to impose town laws. On March 14, 1808, night watchman George Workner was the 1st police officer to be murdered in the city; he was wounded in an escape attempt by nine prisoners at Baltimore City Jail (City of Baltimore, n.d.).
The Maryland state legislature founded the Department in its existing form (with firearms and uniforms) in 1853 to provide enhanced security for life and property in the City of Baltimore. The government did not provide the city with the control to run its own laws. The early times of the Unit were manifested by an inner political clash over divided devotions. In 1857, the police were modernized by Mayor Thomas Swann, and new officers were hired; many arose from Know Nothing mobs in the city and upheld devotions to ex-leaders. Sergeant William Jourdan was the first Baltimore Police Department officer to die in the line of duty; he was shot and killed by an unidentified sniper during the first city council votes on October 14, 1857.
During the U.S. Civil War, the federal government took over the police department after police aided Confederate and Union rebels into a full-out equipped conflict in the Baltimore uprising of 1861.
Demographics of jurisdiction
BPD employs around 3,000 workers, together with about 2,600 sworn officers. BPD’s jurisdiction is divided geographically among nine police districts that contain local police stations, referred to as district headquarters. BPD has 87% male, 13% female, 88% white, 10% African American, 1% Hispanic, and 1% Asian employees in the service.
Location of Police Departments in Baltimore
The current Baltimore Police Headquarters is located at 601 E Fayette Street, Baltimore, Maryland. The Central District department is located at 500 E, Baltimore Street. The Southeastern District department is located at 5710 Eastern Avenue. The Eastern District department is situated at 1620 Edison Highway. The Northeastern District department is located at 1900 Argonne Drive, Baltimore. The Northern District department is located at 2201 W. Coldspring Lane. The Northwestern District police department is located at 5271 Reisterstown Road. The Western District department is situated at 1034 N, Mount Street. The Southwestern District police department is located at 424 Font Hill Avenue, Baltimore, and the Southern District Department is situated at 10 Cherry Hill Road, Baltimore.
Crime in the Jurisdiction
Baltimore has a very high crime rate, including a violent crime rate. This crime spiked in 2015 when Freddie Gray died on April 19. In 2015, the city recorded 344 homicides. In 2011, Baltimore police reported 196 murders, the lowest number since recording 197 killings in 1978. That figure is far less than the peak homicide total of 353 in 1993. The drop in 2011 was major when measured by the figure of murders, but the murder rate was in a similar series as the late 1980s when the city population was 130,000 larger. City leaders attributed the sustained drop to their continued emphasis on repeat violent offenders and increased community engagement, imitating a nationwide drop in crime. Though Baltimore’s decline was brief, as stated, 219 and 235 killings were committed in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Baltimore’s surge in murders in 2013 contradicted local and national trends (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.).
Homicides in Baltimore City are deeply focused within a small number of high-poverty districts. According to a Baltimore Sun study, about 80% of the city’s gun murders happen in 25% of the city’s districts. For the past few years, the degree of deadly gunfire has been growing in Baltimore and at least ten other cities, such as Milwaukee, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. The Coldstream Homestead Montebello region in the Northeast Baltimore district was the city’s most deadly area in 2016, with a usual of one out of every two firings being lethal; the citywide average is one in three.
Gang-related violence typically occurs in drug-trafficking areas and frequently disturbs people involved in drug dealing, mostly narcotics and rival gangs. Now and then, as part of a gang initiation, members are expected to mug people who are not tangled in drug trading, such as in tourist areas and Baltimore’s richer areas. Baltimore, Sandtown-Winchester is one of West Baltimore’s most wrecked and challenging societies. Sandtown experienced racial rioting, housing abandonment, economic depression, and crime in 1968. Sandtown-Winchester was also the birthplace of Freddie Gray and the scene of his apprehension. His death triggered riots with the burning and looting of a CVS drug store off the northeast corner of Sandtown-Winchester at the intersection of W. North Avenue and Pennsylvania.
Recruitment and Selection Process in Baltimore Police Department
The application procedure starts with the Civil Service Test. The test is taken at the Baltimore Police Department Headquarters Building. The minimum qualifications to be a Baltimore Police Officer are U.S. citizenship, but there is no need to be a Maryland resident; a valid driver’s full license; 20 years of age upon beginning; and a GED or high school diploma. The candidate must clear an extensive background check.
The hiring process of Baltimore’s police department comprises these steps: civil service test, physical ability test, preliminary interview, background investigation, polygraph examination, psychological examination, and physical examination (Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.).
References
City of Baltimore. (n.d.). About Baltimore. https://www.baltimorecity.gov/about
U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). QuickFacts: Baltimore city, Maryland. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/baltimorecitymaryland/PST045224
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Baltimore. https://www.britannica.com/place/Baltimore
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