Policy expert questions city councilman on violent crime policy
Originally published on FOX45 News
BALTIMORE (WBFF) - A public policy expert is pushing back against Baltimore City Councilman Ryan Dorsey after he suggested the city council is limited in its ability to enact policies that combat violent crime.
Last week, a Fox45 News analysis discovered Baltimore City councilmembers rarely tweeted about the city's violent crime problem during the month of May. One specific example cited in the analysis was Councilman Ryan Dorsey, who tweeted about biking 21 times over the course of the month, but just twice about violent crime.
In response, Councilman Dorsey challenged Fox45 News to produce examples of "evidence-backed" city council legislation that would address violent crime in Baltimore City.
The tweet suggested the Baltimore City Council is restricted in its ability to produce and pass legislation that would effectively bring down violent crime numbers in the city.
Sean Kennedy, a visiting fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute, believes the city council has a wide array of legislation options that would serve this exact purpose, noting violent crime can be reduced using methods both within and outside of the Baltimore Police Department.
“One of the simplest things to do would be to reconstitute some kind of gun violence squad that targets, through warrants and other enforcement actions, going after the most violent offenders and the most likely to re-offend, and to take them off the streets through police actions," Kennedy said.
History also raises questions about Councilman Dorsey's comment. In 2017, the City Council was split over legislation that would have created a mandatory minimum sentence for illegal firearm possession in Baltimore City. Several Baltimore City leaders, including then-Council President Jack Young, supported the measure.
Councilman Dorsey was part of a coalition of councilmembers who opposed the bill. Ultimately, the pushback from Councilman Dorsey and other city councilmembers led to a watered-down version of the bill passing the city council by a slim 8-7 vote.
Kennedy believes a sit-down between himself and Councilman Dorsey, either publicly or privately, would benefit the people of Baltimore and move the city closer to anti-crime legislative actions.
“I'm offering Councilman Dorsey and any other of his colleagues the opportunity to sit down with me and other experts to discuss the options the city has within its jurisdiction and what it can do to ask for outside help. I'd be happy to do that on Fox45 in a public forum or a town hall. I'd be happy to brief the city council privately or [in] a public testimony, and I'd be happy to have coffee with Councilman Dorsey at any time he sets forth," Kennedy said.
Fox45 News requested to interview Councilman Dorsey for this story. He refused to respond to that request.