District 1 Councilman Zeke Cohen (center right) meets with Fells Point business owners concerned about crime, drug dealing and general lawlessness that has become a problem in the area. (Jerry Jackson)
Baltimore communities unite over crime issues
Originally published in the Baltimore Sun
Baltimore may be coming together: After merchants in largely white Fells Point threatened to withhold their tax payments until City Hall brings some law and order back to their neighborhood, community leaders in some predominantly Black areas said, in essence, “We’ve been asking for that too.”
In a city often divided along racial lines, then, there seems to be broad agreement that communities suffer a diminished quality of life and increased violence when public officials refuse to deter prostitution; public urination and defecation; dangerous traffic violations; and the conspicuous and unlicensed sale and consumption of large quantities of alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit substances.