The governor of Maryland is facing criticism from residents and former law enforcement officials over his handling of crime in Baltimore.
The backlash follows the governor’s decision last week to reject potential assistance from the National Guard, asserting that “together we have broken the back of violent crime.”
However, statistics paint a different picture. In the 17 days since the National Guard has been deployed in Washington, Baltimore has experienced more than 2,500 crimes, including six homicides, nine rapes, 426 assaults, and 439 acts of vandalism.
This violent crime rate is nine times higher than that of Washington during the same period.
Terence Slaughter, an ex-Marine, believes the presence of the National Guard could reduce crime, saying, “When they come here you’ll see the numbers go down.
Daryl Buhrman, a retired city police officer, criticized the current administration, stating, “They think they’re slicker than the average public and can create this falsehood that things are getting better and they’re not.”
Buhrman and others see the National Guard as a potential solution to the city’s crime problem. “Oh yeah. It’ll definitely stop the crime cause when people see these guys out they go the other way,” said Slaughter.
