Jun 21, 20152 min read

* In West Baltimore, open carry is now.

Bookmarks: Wild West Baltimore • Burglars rape, murder, burn high school junior • Dylann Storm Roof • Jamarion Lawhorn update • Lacey Spears update

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Baltimore Gets Bloodier As Arrests Drop Post-Freddie Gray

“Arrests were already declining before Freddie Gray died …” “Even before Gray’s death, police were making between 25 and 28 percent fewer arrests each month than they made in the same month last year.”

“’Before it was over-policing. Now there’s no police,’ said Donnail ‘Dreads’ Lee, 34, who lives in the Gilmor Homes, the public housing complex where Gray, 25, was chased down. ‘People feel as though they can do things and get away with it. I see people walking with guns almost every single day, because they know the police aren’t pulling them up like they used to.’”

Related: Courage to walk unarmed

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16-Year-Old Found Dead In Fire Was ‘Sexually Assaulted, Strangled’

This horrific crime appears unrelated to the overall spike in homicides that began in May. Note that the rate of arrests was already lower than normal prior to the riots.

Related: Choose your name.

Note, Saturday 2015-06-13: Coverage of this story last night on WJZ-TV indicated widespread public outrage, outcry and grief. I wonder whether a shift in public opinion might stem the current crime wave.

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