Police Reaction to Drug Deaths is Laughable

As usual, the police reaction to drug related murders in Baltimore makes me laugh. The police just cannot understand why men who make money off of trading in illegal goods would not want to bring their business disputes to the authorities. I can't imagine it has anything to do with the fact that these disputes arise out of illegal actions. Why would a criminal risk incarceration to make a complaint to police. If they have lived in Baltimore for more than a few months, they should know how quickly police respond to the complaints of black citizens in bad neighborhoods. Even if the police did have the power to say, question Drug dealer A about his theft of Drug Dealer B's stash, or to take enforcer A to task for his assault of runner B for messing up the count on that morning's pull without having to arrest both for drug activity, it would probably not happen efficiently enough in a city where overtime and unsolved cases are the norm.

Anyway, onto the article:

Two men were killed in separate incidents last night and early this morning, pushing the pace of homicides in Baltimore to an average of one a day in May.

Law enforcement officials attribute at least part of the violence to drug turf battles and an increase in gang rivalries. In many cases, police and prosecutors complain that victims and witnesses are reluctant to cooperate with investigators, and instead settle scores outside of the city's criminal justice system.

Only somewhat? To what else do the police attribute these regular slaughters of young black men in our city? Perhaps we should find this "other" and declare war on it.

I am so tired of hearing new crime plans and new initiatives. None of them will work.

Baltimore's death toll will continue to rise until we end the war on drugs and divert our resources to a war on poverty and addiction. I hope someone can prove me wrong, perhaps someone currently running for Mayor, or maybe even President. I doubt it.