By Peter Hermann
Sun Staff
Originally published Sep 19 2000
http://www.sunspot.net/content/cover/story?section=cover&pag
ename=story&stor
yid=1150470204997
Baltimore police have put a bounty on illegal guns.
No longer are they just encouraging people to call
410-685-GUNS to report people carrying firearms. Now they
are paying $200 for each tip that leads to an arrest and a
gun seizure.
"People will give up their mother for $200," Police
Commissioner Edward T. Norris said. "People should be doing
this for nothing, but sometimes a
little cash incentive goes a long way."
The money comes from a $79,000 grant from the Governor's
Office of Crime Control and Prevention and adds muscle to
the city's gun tip line, which has existed for years.
Top law-enforcement officials from several agencies
announced the Gun Stoppers reward program yesterday and
emphasized the need to work together. Strained relationships
and inter-agency turf battles have at times overshadowed
crime-fighting efforts in the past year.
A public-relations campaign, which includes distributing
150,000 business cards, some in Korean and Spanish and
explaining how the reward can be claimed, is being launched
to promote the program.
It also includes radio ads, signs on the sides of buses and
60 spots on cable television.
More than 5,000 posters have been made with catchy phrases
such as "Spread the word, not the weapon" and "An illegal
gun in their hands means $200 in yours."
It is part of an effort to stem the tide of killings - 242
of last year's 309 homicides were committed with guns. This
year, police have seized 1,772
guns on city streets.
Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend said the message is
simple: "Stop the violence before it begins. Gun Stoppers
will give Baltimore one more way to defend itself."
Yesterday's announcement at the Mondawmin Mall parking lot
was attended by a cross-section of Maryland's
law-enforcement community, including top city police
commanders, the city state's attorney, the U.S. attorney and
the head of the Baltimore office of the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms.
The officials talked about the importance of working
together to end violence. But behind the scenes, all is not
well.
City police officers complain that prosecutors do not
aggressively target gun suspects they arrest and instead use
the harsh gun penalties as plea-bargaining chips to win
convictions on lesser crimes. A recent investigation by The
Sun documented that most violent offenders in Baltimore
receive little or no jail time.
Three top officials in the local office of the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are under internal
investigation, reportedly after complaints from U.S.
Attorney Lynne A. Battaglia that they conspired to undermine
federal prosecutors in how gun cases are handled.
Some officials acknowledged yesterday that they are working
as hard to persuade other agencies to cooperate as they are
to rid the streets of
crime.
"I think we're working very closely to get people on the
same wavelength," Townsend said. "We are insisting that they
work together. ... We will reduce turf battles."
People who call the gun number to offer a tip will be given
a code. If an arrest is made and an illegal gun seized, the
person who called will get
$200 within five days.
Police cautioned that they will still have to build cases. A
Supreme Court ruling in March concluded that an anonymous
tip that a person is carrying a gun, "without more
information of criminal activity," is not sufficient for an
officer to search the suspect.
Community leaders said police need to be aggressive in
getting guns off the street, but not at the expense of civil
rights.
"This program is a 911 call to all our community leaders to
come out of the boardrooms and go out into the community,"
said Kent Sanders, president of the Penn-North Community
Association. "If you do not gain the trust of our community
members, this program cannot work."
Sun Staff
Originally published Sep 19 2000
http://www.sunspot.net/content/cover/story?section=cover&pag
ename=story&stor
yid=1150470204997
Baltimore police have put a bounty on illegal guns.
No longer are they just encouraging people to call
410-685-GUNS to report people carrying firearms. Now they
are paying $200 for each tip that leads to an arrest and a
gun seizure.
"People will give up their mother for $200," Police
Commissioner Edward T. Norris said. "People should be doing
this for nothing, but sometimes a
little cash incentive goes a long way."
The money comes from a $79,000 grant from the Governor's
Office of Crime Control and Prevention and adds muscle to
the city's gun tip line, which has existed for years.
Top law-enforcement officials from several agencies
announced the Gun Stoppers reward program yesterday and
emphasized the need to work together. Strained relationships
and inter-agency turf battles have at times overshadowed
crime-fighting efforts in the past year.
A public-relations campaign, which includes distributing
150,000 business cards, some in Korean and Spanish and
explaining how the reward can be claimed, is being launched
to promote the program.
It also includes radio ads, signs on the sides of buses and
60 spots on cable television.
More than 5,000 posters have been made with catchy phrases
such as "Spread the word, not the weapon" and "An illegal
gun in their hands means $200 in yours."
It is part of an effort to stem the tide of killings - 242
of last year's 309 homicides were committed with guns. This
year, police have seized 1,772
guns on city streets.
Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend said the message is
simple: "Stop the violence before it begins. Gun Stoppers
will give Baltimore one more way to defend itself."
Yesterday's announcement at the Mondawmin Mall parking lot
was attended by a cross-section of Maryland's
law-enforcement community, including top city police
commanders, the city state's attorney, the U.S. attorney and
the head of the Baltimore office of the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms.
The officials talked about the importance of working
together to end violence. But behind the scenes, all is not
well.
City police officers complain that prosecutors do not
aggressively target gun suspects they arrest and instead use
the harsh gun penalties as plea-bargaining chips to win
convictions on lesser crimes. A recent investigation by The
Sun documented that most violent offenders in Baltimore
receive little or no jail time.
Three top officials in the local office of the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are under internal
investigation, reportedly after complaints from U.S.
Attorney Lynne A. Battaglia that they conspired to undermine
federal prosecutors in how gun cases are handled.
Some officials acknowledged yesterday that they are working
as hard to persuade other agencies to cooperate as they are
to rid the streets of
crime.
"I think we're working very closely to get people on the
same wavelength," Townsend said. "We are insisting that they
work together. ... We will reduce turf battles."
People who call the gun number to offer a tip will be given
a code. If an arrest is made and an illegal gun seized, the
person who called will get
$200 within five days.
Police cautioned that they will still have to build cases. A
Supreme Court ruling in March concluded that an anonymous
tip that a person is carrying a gun, "without more
information of criminal activity," is not sufficient for an
officer to search the suspect.
Community leaders said police need to be aggressive in
getting guns off the street, but not at the expense of civil
rights.
"This program is a 911 call to all our community leaders to
come out of the boardrooms and go out into the community,"
said Kent Sanders, president of the Penn-North Community
Association. "If you do not gain the trust of our community
members, this program cannot work."
