In a span of just over two weeks, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake saw five top-level criminal justice staffers resign from their posts during a time when the city is experiencing its worst crime wave since the 1970s.

By the end of May, four were gone in a week, starting with head of Office of Nonviolent Programs, LeVar Michael. Following him was the Director of the Criminal Justice Office, Angela Johnese. Then Heather Brantner who was a coordinator for Rawlings-Blake’s Sexual Assault Response Team. In that week’s final blow, the mayor’s deputy director, Shannon Cosgrove, announced her departure. Amazingly, according to Legal Insurrection, not one reason was given for any one of these resignations. They just abruptly left.

Coincidentally, May ended up being Baltimore’s deadliest month since the ’70s, ending with 42 homicides. That month also saw a decrease in arrests which dropped by more than half compared to the previous year. City police describe feeling hesitant to do their jobs under the watchful eye of a public which continually surrounds them, armed with camera phones, as they conduct even the most basic duties.

Rawlings-Blake lost her fifth member from the Office on Criminal Justice during the first week in June. The Baltimore Sun reported that the leader of public safety in one southeast neighborhood, Amy Hartman, submitted her resignation, bringing the total to five and leaving only 11 people on staff out of a 16-member office.

The Sun also revealed that former Gov. Martin O’Malley contacted the mayor in January to offer help in her fight for criminal justice. In an e-mail, O’Malley offered to send “a short list of IT related collaborations that could be of great help to the crime fight in Baltimore City.” He added:

We meet, heads nod, but the follow-up doesn’t happen. Crimes go unsolved, warrants on violent offenders go unserved, etc. Other jurisdictions have seen the benefit.

Rawlings-Blake replied, “Got it. I will await your list.”

It was not made clear that O’Malley or Rawlings-Blake exchanged this list or what, if any, help was given. It was reported, however, that once in 2013, O’Malley and the mayor “tussled” after he questioned the rise in crime during that year because of another decrease in arrests. He wrote then in an op-ed: “So long as levels of enforcement continue to decline, shootings and homicides will continue to go up.”

Rawlings-Blake responded saying, “[R]eturning to the days of mass arrests … might be a good talking point [but it is] a far less effective strategy for actually reducing crime.”

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/baltimore-mayor-loses-5-criminal-justice-staffers