U.S.A. Baltimore sucks. Still.

[Mark]

Baltimore Police: 6-year-old boy dies after being stabbed by mother's boyfriend

Officers were able to take into custody a person of interest in the stabbing.

www.cbsnews.com

This is the neighborhood I grew up in and recently left, quite literally less than a minute drive from the house I lived in. This incident was reported at 8:20pm EST.

Crime is the norm.

Murder is the norm.

Meanwhile, at around 11pm EST, the district that responded to the incident shared this;



Pigtown is on the same boulevard, the opposite direction and within 5 minutes from where that child was killed.




Red circle is 2000 block of Deering Ave. Blue circle is the area pictured in the PD photo op.

Nothing like the illusion of improvement to keep those tax dollars coming in.

 

[Jawneh]

Lunatics. Seriously. I can understand if you get pissed off enough to go and whack a kid for doing something completely stupid, but how the hell do you escalate anything into stabbing one in the back multiple times? How tripped out do you got to be to do that?

The amount of messed up shit that comes through the tube makes me think that being a fairly rational human being is somehow abnormal. The lunatics, psychopaths, karens, and whoever else fucked up. I don't get it.

 

[Mark]

Lunatics. Seriously. I can understand if you get pissed off enough to go and whack a kid for doing something completely stupid, but how the hell do you escalate anything into stabbing one in the back multiple times? How tripped out do you got to be to do that?

The amount of messed up shit that comes through the tube makes me think that being a fairly rational human being is somehow abnormal. The lunatics, psychopaths, karens, and whoever else fucked up. I don't get it.

So, after waiting for the rumor mill to quiet down… I’ve been able to find out some more information, since it’s such a small community and all of the long-term residents know each other. It has almost been 100% confirmed that the dude responsible is a user, and was likely in the throws of withdrawal or in zombie mode.

It’s becoming a common trend with all of the adulterants being mixed in with street drugs… everything from Xylazine to Ketamine could be in your fentanyl or crack.

We live in a disgusting world. It’s easier to keep these people strung out than it is to get them straightened out. It’s also profitable to keep them strung out on a city level.

 

[Webster]

Crime is the norm.

Murder is the norm.

What was the city like when they filmed The Wire in Bawlmer?

 

[Mark]

What was the city like when they filmed The Wire in Bawlmer?

A lot tamer than it is now, if I’m being honest. I never remember the city ever being “safe”, but it turned a very sharp corner when I was a teenager… around the same time filming for the show was still ongoing.

Whenever someone asks me about what it was like growing up there compared to now, I like to use the example of my parents showing and identifying drug paraphernalia and condoms to me as a kindergartner. In the late 80’s, the city offered to pull a single sidewalk block up and plant a tree for free in front of your rowhome. My parents had one planted, as new homeowners in their early 20’s, and by the time I was 5 the landscaping log enclosure would regularly get filled with litter, including paraphernalia and used condoms.



This is the block I grew up on. As you can see from the aerial shot, most of the houses are destroyed, some are completely razed, and others are abandoned. Right before we moved from that neighborhood, a little girl was murdered in that park two blocks to the east, resulting in that park being renamed after her.

I can detail systematic changes in the local government over those years that caused the bulk of the issues the city faced during that time, but it’s much easier to just focus on the post-Freddie Gray Baltimore, because that’s when the police adopted a more hands-off approach, and subsequently, crime skyrocketed. The SA refused to prosecute petty crimes, sex workers, drug dealers, and even firearm crimes were/are met with a slap on the wrist. It bred a culture of zero-consequences, and now, the city consumes itself daily.

 

[Mark]

Caught that night and identified. I’ve seen him around with the fiends on the boulevard, but I don’t associate with the dope crowd.

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

From the one day I spent there last summer I have no desire to ever return.

The area right around Camden Yards was fine, but the rest of the city looked like garbage driving from there to Locust Point, which is supposed to be a nicer area. So I can't imagine the bad areas.

 

[Mark]

From the one day I spent there last summer I have no desire to ever return.

The area right around Camden Yards was fine, but the rest of the city looked like garbage driving from there to Locust Point, which is supposed to be a nicer area. So I can't imagine the bad areas.

That’s the thing… the downtown area is awesome and there’s so much stuff for you to do with the kids, your buddies, and your wife, but it’s just not worth what you’d potentially be subjecting yourself to. Until they get a grip on what’s going on outside of downtown, the touristy spots are gonna suffer. You likely noticed a heavy police presence downtown, and a minimal one in the area heading towards Locust Point, which… believe it or not, HAS improved in recent years. I’m definitely glad you and Cole had a relatively uneventful trip, though. I wouldn’t have been happy had something happened to y’all.

 

[Ants!]

It’s because Alu lives there.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

"God bless our police officers!"

Not related to this incident, but more mocking the comments that are often made on those kind of photo op things:



Cop happens to be in the right place at the right time, it takes the clerk to point out that he's being robbed to the cop before he does anything and the comments are:

"17 years on the force. He's seen a lot. Recognized all the signs and instantly sprung into cop mode. Well done officer !!"
" We need more men like him in this world."
"What a great cop!!! Fast thinking, totally courageous, does his job beautifully."
"Situational awareness is becoming more and more important thing to have as each minute passes for us all."
"God bless all honest, honorable, and self-sacrificing police officers who keep all of us and our children safe. I have lots of respect and admiration for them."
"God bless that officer and the cashier"
"Thank you Officer Hernandez! You are a credit to the force and an angel to your friend clerking at 7-11 !! We need more good men like you out there!!"
"That cop is a guardian angel. The clerk was really lucky to have his friend who arrived at the right moment to catch the robber."
"What a security officer...this officer jst brought the whole heaven into earth in the life of the victim..May this officer never lack anything in his life."
"A policeman who wasn't afraid to do his job . Good man."

Yes, he recognized a 7-11 clerk informing him that he's being robbed and he did his job by apprehending the thief. Bravo.

It's just endless comments kissing this guy's ass for doing what he was employed to do.

I should post a video of my UPS driver delivering a package and commend him for doing god's work.

 

[Zell 17]

"God bless our police officers!"

Not related to this incident, but more mocking the comments that are often made on those kind of photo op things:



Cop happens to be in the right place at the right time, it takes the clerk to point out that he's being robbed to the cop before he does anything and the comments are:

"17 years on the force. He's seen a lot. Recognized all the signs and instantly sprung into cop mode. Well done officer !!"
" We need more men like him in this world."
"What a great cop!!! Fast thinking, totally courageous, does his job beautifully."
"Situational awareness is becoming more and more important thing to have as each minute passes for us all."
"God bless all honest, honorable, and self-sacrificing police officers who keep all of us and our children safe. I have lots of respect and admiration for them."
"God bless that officer and the cashier"
"Thank you Officer Hernandez! You are a credit to the force and an angel to your friend clerking at 7-11 !! We need more good men like you out there!!"
"That cop is a guardian angel. The clerk was really lucky to have his friend who arrived at the right moment to catch the robber."
"What a security officer...this officer jst brought the whole heaven into earth in the life of the victim..May this officer never lack anything in his life."
"A policeman who wasn't afraid to do his job . Good man."

Yes, he recognized a 7-11 clerk informing him that he's being robbed and he did his job by apprehending the thief. Bravo.

It's just endless comments kissing this guy's ass for doing what he was employed to do.

I should post a video of my UPS driver delivering a package and commend him for doing god's work.

Eh, I don't mind the comments. It's a shitty job with shitty pay. We do the same thing with other jobs that objectively suck but are required to keep society functioning (nurses, teachers, etc.)

 

[Mark]

"God bless our police officers!"

Not related to this incident, but more mocking the comments that are often made on those kind of photo op things:



Cop happens to be in the right place at the right time, it takes the clerk to point out that he's being robbed to the cop before he does anything and the comments are:

"17 years on the force. He's seen a lot. Recognized all the signs and instantly sprung into cop mode. Well done officer !!"
" We need more men like him in this world."
"What a great cop!!! Fast thinking, totally courageous, does his job beautifully."
"Situational awareness is becoming more and more important thing to have as each minute passes for us all."
"God bless all honest, honorable, and self-sacrificing police officers who keep all of us and our children safe. I have lots of respect and admiration for them."
"God bless that officer and the cashier"
"Thank you Officer Hernandez! You are a credit to the force and an angel to your friend clerking at 7-11 !! We need more good men like you out there!!"
"That cop is a guardian angel. The clerk was really lucky to have his friend who arrived at the right moment to catch the robber."
"What a security officer...this officer jst brought the whole heaven into earth in the life of the victim..May this officer never lack anything in his life."
"A policeman who wasn't afraid to do his job . Good man."

Yes, he recognized a 7-11 clerk informing him that he's being robbed and he did his job by apprehending the thief. Bravo.

It's just endless comments kissing this guy's ass for doing what he was employed to do.

I should post a video of my UPS driver delivering a package and commend him for doing god's work.

I’ll never understand that level of bootlicking, dude. I’ve known a lot of cops over the years, and not a single one of them was remarkable enough to warrant that level of praise and adoration, and I know plenty of them that have saved someone’s life. It’s not remarkable to me because I’VE saved someone’s life before, and when you do… you do it because it’s the right thing to do in the circumstance at the time, not because you want to or feel some kind of occupational responsibility to. I used to travel with Narcan in my work bag, 3 doses, 2 to hand out, and one for emergencies for myself if I were to encounter fentanyl in a vehicle. You bet your ass I used them on people that others would drive past and let overdose… but when it’s just you at 3am in a parking lot, there’s no one else. The vast majority of police I’ve known see it the same way… it’s not necessarily their job to save addicts, but when there’s no one else around…

Eh, I don't mind the comments. It's a shitty job with shitty pay. We do the same thing with other jobs that objectively suck but are required to keep society functioning (nurses, teachers, etc.)

There is a sort of difference, because you’re not gonna hear a teacher face the same criticism a cop will and still do their job, and vice-versa. Teachers have more leverage for optimal treatment from the public. The similarity is that neither are massively desirable jobs, and are often thankless… but the old adage goes that you don’t do good for praise, you do good because it’s the right thing to do.

 

[Kat]

Eh, I don't mind the comments. It's a shitty job with shitty pay. We do the same thing with other jobs that objectively suck but are required to keep society functioning (nurses, teachers, etc.)

Is that true? I've always heard they're paid pretty well and usually gets lots of well-paid overtime. Their union is pretty powerful.

 

[Mark]

Is that true? I've always heard they're paid pretty well and usually gets lots of well-paid overtime. Their union is pretty powerful.

Depends on the department. BPD, being a much more dangerous jurisdiction pays significantly less than neighboring and safer counties, with better benefits to boot. Same FOP, just different “employers”.

 

[Zell 17]

Is that true? I've always heard they're paid pretty well and usually gets lots of well-paid overtime. Their union is pretty powerful.

Yeah, I guess it depends where you are at. No unions here.

 

[Webster]

A lot tamer than it is now, if I’m being honest.

By that standard, David Simon's Homicide could almost be a choir book description of Baltimore....

 

[Mark]

By that standard, David Simon's Homicide could almost be a choir book description of Baltimore....

All of those shows only seem to spread out occurrences for dramatic effect, but the reality is that a season’s worth of drama and bloodshed can happen on a single block in one night. I’ve had a lot of bad experiences growing up there (some good as well, for what it’s worth), and I’ve lost a lot of family and friends to the bullshit that goes on in the city. You’re not gonna find me having many kind words about the place.