Seeking to curb gun violence, the state's attorney general wants Baltimore and Prince George's County to consider
creating police patrols to seize illegal firearms by searching suspicious pedestrians and motorists in high-crime areas.
"Since we can't stop the flow of guns, maybe we ought to concentrate on reducing the number of guns in the wrong hands," said Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr.
But Mr. Curran's proposal has been greeted with caution by local officials, who fear a gun-seizure program might lead to harassment of innocent residents of minority neighborhoods.
The experimental strategy, first tested in Kansas City, Mo., in 1993, has been credited with reducing gun-related crime in one neighborhood by 50 percent. It was designed by criminologist Lawrence W. Sherman of the University of Maryland, who is testing his program with police in Indianapolis.
Some Indianapolis officers are freed of routine patrol duties and assigned to cruise selected neighborhoods, alert for any legal violations that would give them authority to conduct a search. Typically, they target motorists violating traffic laws or juveniles breaking a curfew.
The goal: to get as many weapons off the streets as possible, based on the theory that fewer weapons will mean fewer shootouts.
A lot of guns are out there. Last year, Baltimore police seized 2,891 handguns, 3,481 rifles and shotguns and 120 assault-style weapons.
And the number of homicides committed with guns in the city rose 28 percent between 1990 and 1993, according to a new University of Maryland study. For the first nine months of 1994 -- the most recent statistics available -- three-quarters of the slayings in Baltimore were committed with handguns.
Meanwhile, the number of homicides committed with handguns in Prince George's County increased more than 300 percent from 1987 to 1992, according to the study.
"With the help of the community, maybe we could identify people who have guns or the characteristics of people with guns, to get them before they hold up somebody or shoot somebody," Mr. Curran said.
He added that his proposal should not be "viewed as, 'Well let's just go into a black neighborhood and start patting down people because they are young or black.' That would be devastating if that were the perception."
Together, Baltimore and Prince George's County account for almost 80 percent of the state's homicides. Last year, 321 people were slain in Baltimore, 136 in the county.
"Of course we're going to welcome any programs that remove guns from the street and reduce crime in our county," said Royce Holloway, a spokesman for Prince George's County Executive Wayne K. Curry.
Lt. Charles A. Pollock, a spokesman for the county Police Department, said the program seems effective based on media reports he has seen. But, he cautioned, "that doesn't mean it's going to work in this area."
Reaction in the city was muted, too. State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy declined to comment, saying that she had heard of the program but had not seen a written proposal.
Sam Ringgold, a spokesman for the city Police Department, said Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier "will be interested in hearing the details of the attorney general's proposal, but will want to ensure that civil rights will not be violated."
So far, Mr. Curran has moved cautiously. "I felt that it was important to make sure that we had broad community support for this," he said. "I met a few days ago with a dozen or so ministers in Baltimore and . . . mentioned this as something that we were discussing."
The ministers, who promised to study the idea, plan to meet with him again in two weeks.
Mr. Curran plans to raise the issue with Prince George's County officials during a meeting this week. He also plans to discuss it with Commissioner Frazier.
Noting that the searches could raise civil rights concerns, the attorney general stressed that the project would require the cooperation and guidance of community leaders, as well as training for officers.
"Everyone has to understand that the purpose is to use police skills to identify a person who may well be doing something illegal, which is carrying a concealed weapon," he said. "You're not just targeting the person for walking down the street."
Baltimore City Councilman Lawrence A. Bell, chairman of the public safety committee, agreed that the program may work. But he said that flooding selected areas with police officers could send the wrong message.
"If this is implemented, it should be done in a variety of places and not just in one particular community," he said, adding that he would support the program if it included gun seizure programs in all parts of the city and throughout the state.
Stephen P. Teret, a former poverty lawyer who is director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, said any seizure program should be carefully designed and monitored.
"I believe that as there are fewer guns, there are going to be fewer gun-related injuries," he said. "On the other hand, I spent a lot of my former professional life as a lawyer defending cases based on illegal searches and seizures. So I have what might be considered a hypersensitivity to possible abuse during searches."
Police, he said, should be trained to make searches based on "rational suspicions rather than irrational prejudices." But, he added, a better solution to street violence would be a limit on the number of guns made in the first place.
Mr. Curran said the seizure program may not be ideal, but it is practical.
"We have so much difficulty passing gun control laws in Annapolis and in Washington," he said. "Rather than just treading water, waiting for a more enlightened Congress -- which could take a while -- maybe this is an approach."