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It’s no secret that the violent crime rates and endemic gang violence in Baltimore, Maryland have been out of control for years. So when Mayor Brandon Scott announced that he was launching a plan to get those issues better under control, people were probably understandably excited. The main thrust of this plan was to put more police officers in some of the high-crime areas and reduce response times when gunfire and other issues are reported. Sounds good, right? But where will he get the officers to handle this work when the Baltimore Police Department is already understaffed and facing budget cuts? Here’s where things begin to look rather suspicious. Mayor Scott plans to stop “wasting the time” of police officers responding to certain types of 911 emergency calls, specifically the calls dealing with people experiencing mental or “behavioral” health issues or “domestic disturbances.” Rather than sending out someone with a badge and a gun, Scott claims the dispatchers will instead send mental health counselors to handle the situation.
