Baltimore, A Dying City

      I had a dream last night. I was in a hospital and there was a river flowing down the hallway. As I looked, the water began to turn red.  I was slightly alarmed. I called someone that worked there to ask them why was this happening. They explained to me that this was a remnant of the remains of the dead bodies that they housed there. When I woke up, I realized that this dream was a representation of the ongoing bloodbath happening in Baltimore. One day after the riots in Baltimore, sparked by the death of Freddie Gray, crime has been on an unusually high incline. Crime continued to soar, even while the police presence was high and the National Guard was in town. Baltimore was placed on a 7 day curfew and the crime continued to escalate. This past Memorial Day weekend, there were 26 shootings with 9 fatalities. Many are under the assumption that the rise in crime is due to the fact that law enforcement has decided to take a "hands off" approach to fighting crime in the inner city. The relationship between the community and law enforcement is indeed strained due to the many instances of alleged police brutality reported in the city. Freddie Gray sustained life threatening injuries in the custody of 6 Baltimore City police officers and later died as a result of his injuries. Baltimore had a massive clean up after the riots, but unfortunately that did not calm the tension in the community. As of today, 108 reported homicides has placed a dark cloud on the community. Many of the shootings are happening during the day when children are out playing. I am of the belief that we cannot blame the police for everything. If they are taking a hands of approach, how is the increase in violent crime their fault? Many people made excuses for the riots. They justified the behavior, saying that the people in the community are upset about the current conditions of their environment. While I described some of these individuals as thugs, degenerates, animals, savages, many described them as misguided youth. I beg to differ. The current influx of violent crime is not being committed by misguided youth. These criminals are committing brutal acts of cold blooded murder. These individuals have no regard for human life. All of the marching, protesting, setting buildings on fire, tearing up other people's personal property has not proven to do anything accept give the real criminals a gateway to further destroy an already depressed community. I'm in no way making excuses for bad cops. We are seeing many instances of police brutality all over the world. These officers need to be disciplined, removed from their position and placed in jail. Unfortunately, we are very familiar with the outcome of cases involving rogue officers, therefore we know that many of them go unpunished. This still does not justify the behavior or the climate that has taken over the streets of Baltimore.