The Baltimore Police union warned that the department is “critically” understaffed as the city works to contain a surge in criminal activity.
“It’s time for action,” Gene Ryan, President of the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement Wednesday. “We cannot sit back and continue to allow a surging crime rate destroy the good work our police officers and law abiding citizens have accomplished in years prior.”
Crime Rate in City is Unacceptable. FOP to meet with Community, Clergy, Corporations & Council… pic.twitter.com/lzTlMXqHip
— Baltimore City FOP (@FOP3) June 21, 2017
Ryan said that the department cannot hire enough officers to catch up with those that leave, according to Fox Baltimore. He accused the city of failing to manage the department and called out local leaders for failing to address a spike in crime.
“I really have a problem with elected officials being silent with what’s going on in the streets of Baltimore right now, I mean we have bodies dropping on a daily basis,” Ryan told Fox Baltimore.
Baltimore’s 162 homicides in 2017 is an all-time record for the first six months of the year. Pressure is mounting on Police Commissioner Kevin Davis as the spike in homicides grip the Charm City.
Officers are now working 12 hour shifts after 8 people were shot, 6 fatally in a 7 hour span.
Baltimore was ground zero for the Black Lives Matter protests in 2015 after the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray following his arrest by police. Gray died of injuries sustained during transport in the back of a police van. The ensuing protests took over the heart of the city as violence and destruction swallowed up blocks on the west side and downtown.
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