Posted on 08/03/22
| News Source: FOX45
After a night of community bonding and conversations, leaders in Baltimore City are faced with the reality that the violence isn’t slowing down yet some elected officials remain defensive about the issues.
During National Night Out Tuesday – a nationwide event where law enforcement officers spend time in the community building relationships with people – the Baltimore Police Department, Mayor Brandon Scott, and the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and other agencies made nearly a dozen stops in communities across Baltimore.
The event on the second day of August marked yet another bloody start to a month in the city that’s on pace to surpass 300 homicides for the eighth year in a row. To date, there have been at least 215 homicides and more than 430 others injured in shootings.
July ended with 35 homicides and even more shootings. FOX45 News asked Mayor Brandon Scott during the event what he is telling Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison to do to avoid even more violence moving forward.
"Same thing we always tell him, go after the folks with the guns that are committing the crimes,” Scott said. “It's not just me, Deputy Mayor Barksdale is doing that and also to let us know where the other failures are."
Mayor Scott’s administration limited all reporters to two questions per news organization, hindering opportunities for follow-up questions and deeper probing about some of the most pressing issues facing Baltimore.
FOX45 News was told to catch the mayor at his next stop. When that happened, the mayor was asked if the streets of Baltimore are safe right now; that question was met with a vague answer.
“I think that we know it doesn’t matter where you are in America, if someone wants to shoot you and they have access to illegal guns, they might carry that out,” Scott said. “We have to not be caught in that small thing, and what I want you guys to think about when you’re telling your stories in such a small way when it’s a lot more complicated, is the impact that that has on our communities.”
Shantay Jackson, the director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, was less defensive than Scott but that’s only because she refused to answer any questions. After telling FOX45 News she would also be at the next event – while walking away from questions – Jackson’s staff refused to allow her to face questions. Instead, Communications Associate Director Sydney Burns directed all questions to the mayor’s office.'