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Baltimore Officers Speak Out On Violence, Rising Murder Rate

Chloe Stevenson Contributor
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Baltimore police finally break the silence and speak out about the staggering number of death’s in May that occurred in their city. In May alone, 42 people were killed in the city.

One Baltimore police officer told CNN that it’s as simple as the good guys let the bad guys win. While the two officers were not allowed to talk on behalf of their department, they did talk freely as long as they remained anonymous to the press.

Both officers state that the Baltimore officers have simply been reacting to the events presented instead of being proactive. They go even further to say that they feel betrayed by their department’s leadership. So betrayed that they honestly feel scared. Not for their own safety, but the idea of being charged for what they believe to be doing their job.

Now, they act out of their fear instead of out of their training. One of the two officers that spoke to CNN spoke on this trepidation that officers now function under: “They feel as though, if I make a mistake, what is this administration going to do to me?”

They all now fear suspension and criminal charges, according to the interviewed cops.

Another Baltimore officer, commissioner Anthony Batts, urges fellow officers to remember why they do this job. Batts said in his interview with CNN, “When I go through roll calls, what I share with them is the fact that remember why you came on this job and why you put that gun belt on, why you put that badge on, and why you wear that uniform everyday.”

The officers close their interview addressing the death of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old man who died due to injuries suffered during his detainment by police. They said “we are trained to escalate things before they escalate”. The family of Gray are not the only ones effected by this incident. The police officers “will never be able to go back to their normal life at this point.”