* 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: President Rawlings-Blake
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
Inter-Agency Violent Crime Reduction Strategy
FOR the purpose of requesting the Baltimore City Police Commissioner, the Baltimore City Health Commissioner, and the Director of Recreation and Parks to combine the unique resources of each agency to develop an interactive, inter-agency strategy to address health, criminal justice, recreation, employment, and other socio-economic issues confronting Baltimore City youth in a comprehensive response to the factors that contribute to or facilitate acts of violence by or upon our City's most vulnerable citizens.
Body
Recitals
Recently Baltimore City residents received both encouraging and disconcerting news about the amount violent crime in our neighborhoods - while on one hand overall violent crime, including robberies and aggravated assaults, is down, on the other, the number of homicides and shootings threatens to spiral out of control - driven, according to law enforcement experts, by an increase in violence perpetuated on youth by other youth.
In an effort to combat the troubling increase in violence, especially that attributed to youth, several City agencies have tailored programs to deal specifically with the needs of juveniles and to provide them an outlet for socialization that steers them away from gangs and gang-related criminal activity.
The Baltimore City Health Department's Office of Youth Violence Prevention is dedicated to combating the epidemic of violence among the City's youth through innovative public health programming. The Office operates 3 programs: Operation Safe Kids; Multisystemic Therapy; and Operation Safe Streets. The Department also works closely with communities, State and local agencies, and public health experts on departmental programs and city-wide, anti-violence initiatives, including the Baltimore City Gang Violence Reduction Plan.
The Department of Recreation and Park's 2007 Spring/Summer Recreation Guide offers many opportunities for Baltimore's youth and their families to join in a summer of safe and healthy pursuits. At the recreation centers, campers reunite for yet another season of creativity and fun. Adventures also await at the Carrie Murray Nature Center's nature camp, where children explore the great outdoors and learn to protect the environment, and, as part of the Therapeutic Division, Camp Variety concentrates more on "possibilities" than on its participants' disabilities. The Division of Youth and Adult Sports promotes the whole individual, good sportsmanship, and an environment that is both fun and competitive.
The Baltimore Police Department's Community Affairs officers have been deployed to high crime areas, focusing on truancy and curfew enforcement in a concentrated effort to reduce juvenile crime and victimization. Police Officers have worked hand in hand with the Baltimore Truancy Assessment Center to assist Baltimore City Public Schools in combating the high-rate of truancy and addressing the many social conditions that contribute to behavioral problems that put youth in danger of resorting to delinquent and criminal behaviors.
These 3 agencies have an impressive record of understanding and dealing with the particular social, psychological, emotional, and need for physical activity of the growing teen. A pooling of their resources will result in a proactive program that can go far to make certain that Baltimore's coming "long hot" summer is one of safety, fun, and learning for all.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Baltimore City Police Commissioner, the Baltimore City Health Commissioner, and the Director of the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks are requested to combine the unique resources of each agency to develop an interactive, inter-agency strategy to address health, criminal justice, recreation, employment, and other socio-economic issues confronting Baltimore City youth in a comprehensive response to the factors that contribute to or facilitate acts of violence by or upon our City's most vulnerable citizens.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Baltimore City Police Commissioner, the Baltimore City Health Commissioner, the Director of the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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