Two employees with an anti-violence program funded by the Baltimore City Health Department were arrested
after law enforcement officers found guns, heroin, cocaine and other drug-related paraphernalia in one of the program’s offices, WBAL reports.
Police officers were investigating a robbery when they entered the Safe Street program’s offices in Baltimore then they found the drugs and weapons, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Safe Streets aims to create a safer environment in the city by educating local communities, according to its website.
In total, nine people were arrested at the offices, two of whom were Safe Street employees, Artez Harris and Ricky Evans. Harris served two years in prison for a 2007 drug charge, and Evans has twice been charged with murder and later acquitted.
Baltimore Sun reporter Kevin Rector tweeted out an image of all the weapons confiscated during the raid.
There are 7 confiscated hand guns on the table at this joint police, health department presser. Waiting for context. pic.twitter.com/kXjsdrMKAi
— Kevin Rector (@RectorSun) July 14, 2015
Health Commissioner Leana Wen stood behind the program on Tuesday saying, “Safe Streets works because employees are often ex-offenders who have credibility in the neighborhoods they serve. This incident is a reflection on the individuals involved, and should not take away the great successes of Safe Streets and the role it has played in reducing violence.”