A few weeks ago, the Mayor and I traveled to Washington to hear the President announce that Baltimore, among other cities, would receive additional funding under a new public safety initiative. The initiative, Community Oriented Policing Services program (COPS), will fund Baltimore with $10.8 million to hire 100 additional officers to target high crime and economically distressed neighborhoods. These additional officers are scheduled to join the force beginning September 1, 1998. They will be assigned to specific communities for the purpose of increasing familiarity between police officers and residents of targeted neighborhoods, thereby improving the community's overall quality of life. The theory is, better relations permit clearer communication between residents and police.

As I sat listening to the President, I could not help but think about a recent conversation I had with Jamal, a life-time Baltimore city resident and father of three small children. He approached me at the supermarket to share with me his concerns about the police department. Jamal said, "Sometimes I feel like moving away, to live somewhere I don't have to worry quite as much about my family and their safety."

Jamal also stated that, "the police are part of the problem, not just the people. More police in Black neighborhoods spells trouble." He is aware that many officers are unfamiliar with the culture, language, and history of antagonism between the police and the Black community. Because they are not from the neighborhoods in which they work, communication can and has been a problem. Baltimore is a city with over 70% African American citizens, yet our police force is still struggling to be more reflective of the people they serve. "Let's face it," Jamal said, "some police officers are out of touch, they don't know the people as people, they know them as problems."

"The police are programmed against us before they ever meet us. They seem often times to accept the negative stereotype of the group as reality. They seldom have time to get to know any of the citizens they are sworn to protect and serve. To them, we are nameless faceless people with problems they have to solve." Jamal argued, "that the police are just not sensitive to the needs of people they serve. More police would mean more arrest, leading to more destruction of the family."

My response to Jamal was that the COPS program is designed to deal precisely with some issues that he raised. For example, Neighborhood Service Centers serve as a meeting place for concerned residents, such as Jamal, who want to help, but are uncertain as to how to begin. The service centers are designed to put the neighborhood and the police on the same team. The center pulls together, in an informal setting, community associations and officers specifically assigned to a neighborhood. However, the centers are only effective when the police and residents really work in tandem to identify and solve problems. The assigned officer's role is to be a problem solver. Different from the role of crime investigator or law enforcer, these officers are required to meet and discuss the communities' concerns with its' leaders. Armed with this information, leaders and police officers can work together for more effective crime fighting solutions.

Some Baltimore neighborhoods have successfully formed partnerships between themselves, City services and the police. The way to combat violent crime and open air drug sales is to make it impossible for these crimes to be committed. How do you do that? Participate in community associations that work with the assigned officer. Tell them whom, what and when you see criminal activity. Either we as a community get tough on crime or we will continue to be abused by it.

We need to implement stronger neighborhood crime fighting infrastructures. We must create a system that enables people to communicate with police without fearing for themselves or the safety of their families. Moreover, attaching officers to communities and communities to officers should result in a new level of shared accountability.

Jamal and I agreed that there are numerous difficulties facing the effective administration of law enforcement. Several officers simply patrol and respond to 911 calls, never having a chance to get to know anyone as they roam in response to those calls. I explained to Jamal that the COPS program should produce more officers that are familiar with and to the community. The program aims to develop an "esprit de corp" between the people and the police. Some "officers are called out of service" (off their beat) to attend community association meetings. This activity is a result of the forward thinking of some Baltimore police administrators. The method has produced better relationships.