Readers Sound Off on Baltimore's New Police Commissioner

I'm very disconcerted with phrases like "people who look like me" and "help kids that looked like him" (Patch: New Commissioner Brushes Off Rough Oakland Tenure). Baltimore City has made great strides to stamp out racial divisiveness (although not socioeconomic bias) and I hope Batts doesn't rely on West Coast experience in this position. What works in one city may not work in another.

I would like seeing foot police assigned to all of the neighborhoods so that the Officers on patrol know the neighborhoods and the people who reside therein. I would like to see these officers do regular shifts in the community so that a trust can be built between the neighborhoods and the Police Department. I think that this would curtail crime considerably and it would create a feeling of peace within the neighborhoods.

We really need someone in the city like Phoenix Jones. Phoenix Jones says we do have a" hero" in Baltimore( named Phoenix, but no relation) but I have never heard or seen him at work. My ex- son- in - law is a " guardian angel" in the city, but I have never seen them at work either ...
People in the city( including cops) need to learn good old fashion manners and morals, then there would not be so much trouble in the city, because they might know right from wrong.

The new guy will be gone in 18 months -- he is under qualified. Bound to fail.Last I read, Oakland is a nightmare compared to Baltimore.

Why has the Northern District been with a drug unit for almost a year?
I am told that the Northern may never get a drug unit.
Drug raids are down 95% in last year.
Drug dealers have retaken corners in Remington.

I would ask everyone to pray for you. Satan steals, kills, and destroy. Just like Jesus your own will not accept you. I pray for peace in our inner cities communities. Father God touch this man and his community in the name of Jesus, Satan be gone.

Great. Another commissioner who knows nothing about Baltimore. And he had trouble with the bureaucracy in Oakland. Wait till he sees the bureaucracy in Baltimore.

It was under Batts rule that thousands of Oakland citizens marched in protest of police violence. It was under his direction that passive students were famously pepper sprayed. This guy left Oakland in a mess.