Expert predicts police cuts will result in more violence
Originally published on FOX45 News
BALTIMORE (WBFF) - Baltimore’s Police Department has begun shifting officers into new positions as it attempts to deal with a $22 million budget cut.
It comes after pressure from protestors to shift police funds to other agencies which may be better equipped to handle certain crisis.
“It’s only going to make the problem worse,” said Sean Kennedy with the Maryland Public Policy Institute.
But, although the nonprofit seeks to stop "government overreach," it's warning against cutbacks in one prominent government agency - the Baltimore Police Department.
Kennedy says the department needs more resources as it attempts to deal with a soaring homicide rate.
“There’s only 50 officers chasing 350 murders which no other department in the U.S. has any ratio like that. The burden on the average homicide officer is unbelievable,” said Kennedy.
Kennedy predicts the result of the city’s defunding of the department will lead to rising violence.
“We’re effectively in a position where the worst crime ridden city in America is defunding the only people who stand between them and more bloodletting,” said Kennedy.
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