CBS Baltimore carries an
Associated Press story on the greatly increased violence and fear in that city.
A 31-year-old woman and a young boy were shot in the head Thursday, becoming Baltimore’s 37th and 38th homicide victims so far this month, the city’s deadliest in 15 years.
Meanwhile, arrests have plunged: Police are booking fewer than half the number of people they pulled off the streets last year.
Is there any possible way you can see the things described in these two consecutive paragraphs as unrelated? Nor can I. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said:
Our officers tell me that when officers pull up, they have 30 to 50 people surrounding them at any time.
The article continues:
Baltimore was seeing a slight rise in homicides this year even before Gray’s death April 19. But the 38 homicides so far in May is a major spike, after 22 in April, 15 in March, 13 in February and 23 in January.
With one weekend still to go, May 2015 is already the deadliest month in 15 years, surpassing the November 1999 total of 36.
The thin blue line that stands between us and anarchy deserves our support. Without it, life begins to become Hobbesian, which is to say a war of everyone against everyone.
