Keiffer Mitchell Jr. pushes enhanced gang enforcement

The Baltimore Sun

Baltimore City Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr., who has been focusing on addressing violence in his mayoral campaign, held a small news conference yesterday to call for the establishment of gang crime enforcement units in every police district.

"We need officers out on streets in communities and in neighborhoods, finding out what's going on with gangs," Mitchell said, standing outside the Eastern District station, "because the gang problem is spreading through our city."

Mitchell complained that only the Eastern District has its own anti-gang unit, and it was created by officers and the major there, not by command staff or City Hall. Though police have identified 1,100 gang members in that district, the team has four members, he said.

Sterling Clifford, the Police Department's director of public affairs, said he was puzzled by some of Mitchell's contentions. "The anti-gang strategy for the Police Department is comprehensive, and it goes beyond the individualized anti-gang units in each district," he said. "Gangs cross outside the boundaries of any single district."

All nine districts have gang liaison officers, Clifford said. In addition, the department's central intelligence and organized-crime groups focus on anti-gang work. The department also works with several federal organizations, including the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, to fight gangs, he said.

"The end result is that the Police Department arrested 500 documented gang members in the first six months of this year," Clifford said.

Mitchell, the leading Democratic primary opponent of Mayor Sheila Dixon, has previously said that as mayor he would hire an additional 250 police officers. A hiring spree would help staff his proposed anti-gang units, which would range in size depending on each district's needs, he said yesterday.

Last week, Mitchell called for an independent audit of crime statistics, saying that the official numbers are inaccurate.

rona.marech@baltsun.com

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