* 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 Conaway
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
Request for State Action - Screening of Prison Workers for Gang Affiliations
FOR the purpose of requesting that the State Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services improve efforts to screen prison workers for gang affiliations.
body
Recitals
The activities of criminal gangs pose a significant and growing threat both in Baltimore and throughout Maryland. The FBI estimates that the 350 violent gangs operating in Maryland have nearly 8,000 active members, and the Justice Department’s National Gang Intelligence Center estimated earlier this year that up to 80% of crimes in communities across the nation are committed by gang members.
Many of these gangs have presences in prisons or even originated behind bars. The FBI believes that 75% of Maryland gangs are active in prisons. Maryland’s Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services admits that “many gangs are using the prison system as a recruiting ground, building their numbers and jeopardizing the safety of our institutions and the communities to which they will return.” Worse, inmates are increasingly finding ways to direct the criminal activities of gangs beyond the prison walls. Here in Baltimore, inmates have been proven to have run sophisticated drug operations or ordered gang killings from behind bars.
Recent media reports have ...
Click here for full text