I sometimes metaphorically refer to the neighborhoods of Baltimore as the "clams" and the "clam-ups."
The clams are the neighborhoods that cooperate with the police. They readily share information that may be useful to the police. Not coincidentally, these are neighborhoods where pride trumps fear among its neighbors.
The clam-ups are the ones who know things but are reticent to share the information with the police for fear of reprisal. It seems that the vapid "stop snitching" concept a few years ago has solidly embedded itself in certain communities and neighborhoods in Baltimore, perhaps more so than in other major American cities.
A lot of finger-pointing is directed at the Baltimore City Police Department, but some of that venom is obviously undeserved. The residents of Baltimore have to realize that in order for the city to move forward, the stop snitching mentality must be completely eradicated. The onus, or civic responsibility to quash it is on the constituents, and not the cops.
The plight of Baltimore is in the balance. To me, it is that inherently simple.
Patrick R. Lynch, Nottingham