Government has a duty to keep the public safe. This is a guiding principle that I use in all of my efforts and actions on the Baltimore City Council. Moreover, it is a guiding principle that I hold near in my travels across each community of Baltimore City.

I worked as a public defender in Baltimore City for 10 years. I have seen the criminal justice system from lots of perspectives.

I am committed to reducing crimes of all sorts with a particular emphasis on violent crimes in Baltimore City.

• I released a comprehensive emergency plan to fully staff our police department, so the City’s crime fighting efforts have the full weight of law enforcement behind them.  This plan includes:

• A formal request to the Mayor of Baltimore to make an emergency disbursement of $2 million from the City’s “rainy day fund” to begin an immediate and aggressive campaign to recruit new Baltimore City Police Officers. 
• A formal request to the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention to issue a grant to the City of Baltimore to further the campaign for the recruitment of Baltimore City Police Officers.
• The creation of a Community Task Force focused on staffing a Police Auxiliary Unit to man PAL centers throughout the city, allowing sworn, uniformed officers to return to enforcement activities in Baltimore’s neighborhoods.
• The formal request of 15 Maryland State Police Troopers to man the City’s Warrant Apprehension Task Force to target the city’s most violent fugitives.

• As a legislative body, the City Council will use its powers to ensure effective, efficient, and cooperative work across all city agencies to reduce crime.  I called for the Police, Health, and Recreation and Parks Commissioners to appear before the Council to present a unified strategy to address the violence in Baltimore, particularly as it relates to youth.  The only way our efforts will be successful is with one voice.
• I am committed to opening an additional 30 fully funded recreation centers in Baltimore within the next four years, to ensure our youth have access to positive activities and guidance during the most vulnerable years of their lives.
• I have used the Council’s budget authority to ensure the highest accountability of all City agencies for the reduction of crime in Baltimore.
• I was the first public official ever to request a private meeting with rank and file police officers to solicit their ideas and recommendations on how best to combat violent crime in Baltimore.  Those recommendations were compiled and submitted to the Mayor and Police Commissioner to enhance the City’s efforts to make Baltimore a safer place to live.