* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Reisinger
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
Informational Hearing - Nuisance Abatement Tools
FOR the purpose of calling on representatives from the agencies involved with criminal nuisance abatement to appear before the City Council to discuss best practices in criminal nuisance abatement, inform the Council about how various nuisance abatement strategies and tools work, and establish mechanisms to better coordinate the use of nuisance abatement tools Citywide.
body
Recitals
Many otherwise peaceful neighborhoods contain one or two places that consistently attract a criminal element of one sort or another. If the activities at these sites are allowed to continue unchecked, these pockets of unlawfulness can eventually spread their blight throughout entire blocks as regular citizens are pushed out. However, if instead these problem areas are quickly dealt with, neighborhoods can be preserved and restored with comparatively minimal effort.
Recognizing this, both the State of Maryland and the City of Baltimore have independently created a number of legal tools to address these chronically criminal, “nuisance”, locations. Some of these tools include State laws criminalizing the keeping of a “common nuisance” and City laws relating to “public nuisances” or “neighborhood nuisances”. When and where these tools are effectively employed the results can be dramatic.
Unfortunately, knowledge of what options are available to deal with these nuisances, and how to best use these legal tools, is not spread equally throughout the City. Some districts make little use of these laws, while others have had great success with them and have staff specifically devoted to dealing with nuisance locations.
In order to take full advantage of the opportunities to nip neighborhood decline in the bud through the use of nuisance abatement strategies, these strategies should be discussed and shared amongst and within the various agencies and stakeholders who may be able to make use of them. The City Council as a whole should also be familiarized with the different nuisance abatement processes so that Councilmembers can assist constituents concerned about the appearance of one of these pockets of criminality in their area to best make use of the City’s resources to preserve their neighborhoods.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Council calls on representatives from the agencies involved with criminal nuisance abatement to appear before it to discuss best practices in criminal nuisance abatement, inform the Council about how various nuisance abatement strategies and tools work, and establish mechanisms to better coordinate the use of nuisance abatement tools Citywide.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Police Commissioner, the Housing Commissioner, the Health Commissioner, and the Mayor’s Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
dlr 11-2429~intro/08Jun11
ccres/NuisAbate/tw
dlr 11-2429~intro/08Jun11
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ccres/NuisAbate/tw