Baltimore Police Commissioner Edward Norris says, in a new video being shown to officers at daily roll call, that it's time to really put the screws to criminals in the city. Show them who's in control. Stop them from terrorizing with impunity.
He's absolutely right.
But even as the video is distributed, officers in one precinct mourn a detective who was killed in apparent retaliation for putting a criminal away. Last week, four officers were gunned down while serving a warrant. And a month ago, an east-side firebombing silenced six members of the Dawson family, who'd been standing up to the criminals on their block, trying to help police get control.
Mr. Norris uses the firebombing as the backdrop for his video, the impetus for his call to action. And it may be that -- but it is also stark evidence of the problem in Baltimore.
The question is not so much whether the criminals are in control of the streets, but what it will take for things to truly change.
Credit Mr. Norris for being part of the solution. Since coming here, he has brought order to the city's chaotic crime-fighting efforts and stepped up patrols, arrests and everyday confrontations of city criminals.
But even those improvements didn't erase deeper problems that need correcting. Police too often make arrests without the evidence needed at trial to win convictions. And sometimes, they fail to follow through with investigations after criminals are charged. That's part of the reason that only three of every 10 murder suspects do hard time. And lack of consequence only fuels the drive to retaliate.
As Mr. Norris pushes his officers to tighten their enforcement, he must also implore them to do it with more of an eye toward successful prosecution. Revolving-door justice is simply not a long-term remedy to Baltimore's crime problem.
Police cannot solve these problems alone, either. Missteps throughout the criminal justice process make it a near certainty that criminals will escape harsh punishment. That's true when prosecutors withhold evidence or introduce other errors at trials. It's true when city juries refuse to convict, despite overwhelming evidence of guilt. It's true when judges hand down light sentences after conviction.
It's also incumbent upon all of the system's players to work in closer tandem on these issues. Even after the Dawson murders, which much of the city saw as a turning point, finger-pointing and mistrust better define some of the important relationships than cooperation.
The sad truth in Baltimore is that our police have become targets, witnesses have become the hunted and innocents have seen the idea of safety shredded in a hail of bullets.
Mr. Norris is right to insist that his officers take a strong stand against criminals in Baltimore. But if that happens outside the context of more fundamental change in the criminal justice system, his message will never square with life on the streets.