BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WBFF) — A recent string of violent incidents in Baltimore County has heightened concerns among residents, meanwhile new county leadership prepares to take office.
“It’s like now it’s scary. You get what I’m saying? It’s like you don’t really know what’s going to actually happen to you when you leave out your door,” said Travon Thomas, a concerned resident.
The latest incidents included a fatal shooting in Gwynn Oak on Wednesday. Police responded to a shots-fired complaint just after 9 a.m. and found a 57-year-old man who had been shot multiple times. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Two hours earlier, a 19-year-old was found with a gunshot wound on Clementine Court.
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In Parkville, a gas station employee has decided to leave his job after the store he worked at was ransacked by burglars for the third time in two weeks, leaving thousands of dollars in damage and stolen merchandise.
“I’ve decided I can’t work anymore at this store. I’m scared. I have my own life. My family is everything,” the employee said.
Criminal justice professor and former ATF special agent Joe Vince said crime is not necessarily rising overall, but the nature of some cases stands out.
“Crime is plateauing it’s plateaued across the board in the United States however having said that we’re seeing some brazen and bizarre crimes,” Vince said.
Vince also pointed to repeat offenders as a key issue. “We see repeat offenders that are causing a lot of the problems that we have,” he said.
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The county is preparing for a leadership change, with newly elected Julian Jones set to assume the role of county executive after making public safety and crime reduction central themes of his campaign.
Vince cautioned that progress will take time.
“You’re not going to see results overnight but we do have to work on our juveniles, we have to work on our offenders, and the other thing is… the state is running a deficit and this is an issue that’s going to resonate because it’s difficult when our facilities and the amount of people that we have there to work with juveniles doesn’t exist,” Vince said.
Vince said the public bears the cost when there are few consequences.
“You have juveniles that have been incarcerated put in detention or released right after they’ve been arrested and nothing consequences happens – it emboldens them even more,” he said.
Source: foxbaltimore.com
