Zero Tolerance For Open-Air Drug Markets

Open-air drug markets have become far too common in Baltimore. Many people just accept them as a fact of life. Open-air drug markets create a sense of lawlessness and bring down the overall quality of life in a community. It is finally time for communities and the police to work together to make sure a sense of law and order is restored to every area of Baltimore. We need a zero tolerance policy toward open-air drug markets. In order to do this, police must stop and get out of their cars when they see an open-air drug market and community members must call 911 when they see an open-air drug market. Pretending they don’t exist will not make them go away. The police need to have more members of the warrant task force and have them
available to come to the scene of an open-air drug market 24 hours a day. We need to hire more police personnel to fill the over 100 vacancies we currently have on the force and we must pay Baltimore Police at the same level police are paid in the counties surrounding the city. As councilman, I would organize citizens on patrol walks and go door to door encouraging every neighbor to participate. I would take advantage of groups like the Guardian Angels who freely volunteer their time to patrol areas and go on citizens on patrol walks. I will work tirelessly trying to track down the owners of houses and commercial establishments that have drugs flowing in and out of them on a regular basis. I will encourage the creation of more police substations all over the community including in senior apartment buildings and schools to that our most vulnerable residents are protected.