If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results each time, then Baltimore is certifiable.
The city, like many other Democratic-run urban centers, seems to believe that if something is not working, it just needs more money. That is how nearly $1.2 million in federal funds is making its way into Baltimore’s coffers to fund a twice-failed “violence reduction” program.
In May, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Democrat, presented a gigantic check to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott to expand the 4-year-old Group Violence Reduction Strategy.
The program identifies people at greatest risk of committing violent offenses and then, as Jason Johnson, a former Baltimore police deputy commissioner, put it, tells them “the consequences of continued involvement in criminal activities and ways to get out.”
The mayor’s office bills it as a “proven plan” to reduce shootings and homicides.
Yet it may not be doing either and warrants a closer look, as do at least two other mayor’s office endeavors.
Launched in 2022, the Group Violence Reduction Strategy was preceded by two similar anti-violence programs that both tanked.
In 1998, Baltimore started Operation Safe Neighborhoods to target “violent groups in a drug market area,” according to a paper from Arizona State University. It was “dismantled due to political infighting, resistance to operational changes, and obstruction by some of the partnering agencies.”
Defund anything that Van Hollen, Baltimore Mayor and Tax Moore have to do with . You can believe it is crooked done by expert crooks.
Violence reduction starts at home