Commentary

Law enforcement faces a more urgent challenge than the defund the police movement ever posed: the rise of private policing. And now, Maryland lawmakers are seeking to rein in the lightly regulated but heavily armed sector. While the $50 billion private security services industry can and should serve to complement law enforcement’s role, in many cases that industry is taking the place of police.

Joseph “Joe” Meyerhoff II has a solution to Baltimore’s vacant home crisis that even he knows sounds crazy, but some in the city of Baltimore are examining the idea. There are at least 15,000 vacant homes in Baltimore, a level of blight rarely seen on the East Coast. Yet the city has an affordable housing shortage, so Meyerhoff wanted to know why somebody couldn’t just fix up those homes and sell them. The retired businessman and philanthropist put the question to a nonprofit builder, who told him he spent $200,000 to fix up a vacant Baltimore house that then appraised for only $150,000.

Anton’s Law grew out of public outrage about the use of lethal force by police officers in Maryland, particularly the brutal killing of Anton Black, an unarmed Black teenager, by Officer Thomas Webster IV on Maryland’s Eastern Shore on Sept. 15, 2018. Anton was a father and a star athlete, loved by his family and friends. He had a bright future. Officer Webster should never have held a position in Maryland law enforcement. Webster had 30 use-of-force complaints on his record when he was an officer in Dover, Delaware. He was ultimately fired after being arrested for kicking and breaking the jaw of an unarmed Black man, Lateef Dickerson. Nonetheless, he was certified to work in Maryland and hired by the Greensboro Police Department because the town’s police chief falsified Webster’s records.

During my time pursuing my first graduate degree at New York University, the graduate school of public administration, one of the oldest in the nation, changed its name to the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. It was named in honor of the late New York City mayor, Robert F. Wagner, who was still living at the time of the school’s renaming.

There is an enduring appeal to the notion of traveling the Chesapeake Bay by ferry. Maybe it’s the thought of standing at the rail, watching as the tide and miles roll away. Or perhaps it’s a traffic-jam daydream: getting somewhere without the endless glare of a thousand brake lights ahead of you?

The shocking collapse of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin on Monday night has renewed concerns about the dangers of football. While I certainly agree with the need to make football safer, that’s the wrong lesson to draw from this situation. Rather, Hamlin’s cardiac arrest highlights the need to make automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) readily accessible in all sports facilities, especially where youth sports are played. The scary moment occurred after Hamlin, 24, apparently slammed his chest into the shoulder of Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin stood up briefly after the tackle before collapsing on the field. His heart had stopped. Medical staff members rushed to perform chest compressions and used an AED to shock his heart.

Based on the many announced projects moving from drawing boards to groundbreakings, it should be a banner year for development in and around Baltimore in 2023. Despite expected economic headwinds and a pandemic that has not surrendered its grip on us, developers are moving ahead with a wide range of significant initiatives in Baltimore and beyond. I spoke to a representative of one of those developers earlier in the month. Drew Gorman is a Washington, D.C.-based partner with P. David Bramble of MCB Real Estate LLC. The firm has a growing portfolio of developments at a number of locations around Baltimore.

Correctional officers assisting in the assault and attempted murder of inmates by other inmates. Correctional officers knocking inmates unconscious, sodomizing them, and then dragging them through the prison unconscious with their pants around their ankles. Prison officials subjecting Spanish speaking prisoners to legal processes without interpreters, violating their due process rights, and then stripping them of good time credits that would see them released earlier. Prison medical contractors denying health care to prisoners and leaving them in excruciating pain for months or years on end. All done under the seal of the great State of Maryland and in the name of its citizens.