Baltimore County, MD County Archive, 6 Oct 2010

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From YouTube: Governor O'Malley and Baltimore County Executive Announce Crime is Still Down

Description

Today, the Baltimore County Police Department held a Press Conference to announce the crime statistics for the first half of 2010. County Executive Jim Smith announced a continued decline in crime across Baltimore County.

MORE:
http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/News/releases/1005crimestats.html

A

You came today to talk about the importance of partnership in public safety. Can you talk a little bit about what you shared and why you make this such a priority? The.

B

Only progress, that's really lasting and meaningful is that progress that we're able to make in partnership when it comes to public safety in Baltimore County, thanks to Jim, Smith's leadership, banksy, chief Johnson, thanks to councilmember cabinets and thanks to courageous law enforcement officials, we've been able to create partnerships at the state level with Baltimore County that never existed before to target the most violent offenders that are out there on parole and probation to target those juveniles that are at greatest risk to themselves and create the greatest potential risk to the rest of us, and we have been sharing information and and putting technology in the hands of police officers in a way that is not being done in virtually any other state in our country and that's what's having the effect of in the toughest of times driving violent crime down violent crime doesn't go down by itself.

B

It happens because these partnerships with our police, of course doing the toughest job on the front lines with neighbors, are taking the violent offenders off the street solving crimes and the state's attorneys putting them in jail where they belong. That's what's been working here and we need to keep it up when we can save a lot of lives in the future. Thank.

A

You governor mr. executive, you talk today about some very specific stats related to Baltimore County and have that's made a difference in the Renaissance you've tried to create. Maybe you can just highlight some of those statistics. Well,.

C

As a governor said, Public Safety is the foundation upon which everything else government does is based and and and all the improvements we've made in older communities. It's been the result of that foundation being in place.

C

Violent crime is down in the first six months, six point: eight percent in Baltimore County, overall crime is down almost twelve percent and in fact, robberies and rapes, and- and although thefts are less than 1970s and some less than in the nineteen sixty-nine we're at a 35-year low for crime in Baltimore County, and that and that that partnership with the state with the county, with the police and their partnership with the people who live in our communities and they have a great relationship with the people who live in our communities who who give them tips who come to court and testify who see the police as their friends in partnership for public safety, all those things together or what are producing these great results.

C

Thank you very much. Police.

A

Force and how it works as a team, can you care to elaborate on that? Well,.

D

Don I'm always very quick to attribute crime reduction to the great work of police officers and detectives in the field. However, we have to take a hard look at technology and its role. Its impact on public safety. Baltimore County's invested quite a bit in the very latest technology to make our community safer. All the while, while operating at or under budget in the county for Public Safety Thank.

A

You councilman cabinets you certainly have become known as the council member who really focusing on public safety. You started with a look at cameras in our shopping center areas and then last night you had a recent legislative success. Maybe you can talk about that as well. What.

E

I've tried to do is both as utilize my experiences as a prosecutor to figure out ways to help the police do a better job fighting crime. When we had problems in our shopping centers, we passed a law that mandates video surveillance of the public parking areas, and the chief has indicated that since we passed that law, violent crime has been reduced by thirty one percent. Last night we tried to address another matter of a chemical compound that was being sold in our neighborhoods in our businesses.

E

That was a synthetic marijuana called spice or k2 that had an effect that was probably ten times as potent as marijuana with a lot of harmful side effects, and that was available to sell to not only adults but children and the whole hookey. There is being able to respond quickly, address the situation and then move on to the next problem, but you want a county government that I think is reactive in an appropriate way and also makes use of technology and all our other opportunities to help move our county forward. Gentlemen, thank you very much.