Now comes the hard part: Specifically and faithfully addressing the real problems. Let us start with just one.
Problem: Too many Baltimore police officers do not know and understand the lives of those they are sworn to serve and protect, in part because they do not live in the city. A posting on the city's own OpenBaltimore website in 2012 stated that more than 70 percent of Baltimore Police Department officers lived outside city limits, with at least 10 percent living outside the state. There may be multiple reasons for this, but two concrete ideas might help:
1. An idea Bill Cole offered when running for City Council in 2007: Reduce or eliminate property taxes for police (and fire fighters and teachers) so they can afford to live, and have a personal stake, in the city they patrol.
2. Establish a magnet high school focused on criminal justice, in the mold of Poly (math and science), City (liberal arts and humanities) and Baltimore School for the Arts. Such a school would provide smart city kids with a career path to the police academy, law schools and jobs such as paralegal. Renovate or build a well-equipped school near the Western District police station, so the students and police can work together, and future officers can come from their own neighborhood.
There are many more massive problems, but the best way to do nothing is to endlessly study and try to do everything. These simple ideas are within the capability of Baltimore now. Let us show the political will to get them done while we continue to work on the broader issues of racism, poverty and injustice.
Debra J. Thomas and Terry Shepard, Baltimore