Baltimore Police Department
Website: baltimorepolice.org
About: The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) is dedicated to fostering trust with community members, safeguarding life and property, and promoting public safety through enforcing the law in a fair and impartial manner. Its vision is to reduce crime, particularly violent crime, and the conditions that create fear and concern over the quality of life in Baltimore City neighborhoods.
The Baltimore Police Department has a critical role to play in improving Baltimore's future. Public safety is one of the most important aspects of City life to residents, businesses, and communities. Improving the safety of commercial corridors and neighborhoods is absolutely essential to attracting new residents and retaining families in Baltimore. Improving public safety outcomes is also essential to restoring Baltimore's national and global reputation as a great to place to live, work, and visit. Baltimore's global reputation has been largely influenced by its negative portrayal in works such as The Wire, and most recently, by the national media's coverage of the unrest in 2015.
A recent Atlantic Media/Siemens State of the City Poll examined what issues are most important to City residents. Not surprisingly, personal safety is a primary concern, measured specifically by how safe people feel from crime when walking in their neighborhoods after dark. It goes without saying that if you don't feel safe, you are not going to be happy where you are.
The unrest experienced in Baltimore in 2015 demonstrated the erosion of trust between the residents of Baltimore and BPD. The Department has embarked on the enormous, but critical task of restoring trust between police officers and the community. This requires changing cultures, changing mindsets, improving policies and procedures, better training, and better technology.
Baltimore Corps Fellow:
