Baltimore Focuses on Guns to Distract from Top-Down Incompetence, Corruption

By David Codrea

Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis may as well be saying “Beats me what to do about it except spend more money.” [Press conference screen shot]
USA – -(Ammoland.com)- “Federal agents arrested seven Baltimore City Police Department (BPD) officers today for a racketeering conspiracy and racketeering offenses, including robbery, extortion, and overtime fraud,” the Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Maryland announced Wednesday.

Per The Washington Post, the indicted cops “were members of an elite gun task force.”

Regular readers will recognize the term “Only Ones.” And know where it originated. And see how it applies here.

“The police officers charged today with crimes that erode trust with our community have disgraced the Baltimore Police Department and our profession,” Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis admitted in a statement acknowledging the charges. “We will not shy away from accountability, as our community and the men and women who serve our City every day with pride and integrity deserve nothing less. Our investigative partnership with the FBI will continue as we strive to improve. Reform isn’t always a pretty thing to watch unfold, but it’s necessary in our journey toward a police department our City deserves.”

Davis’ performance at a joint press conference with the U.S. Attorney, FBI and DEA did not seem to assuage reporters in attendance, who wanted to know, among other things, why officers would feel so confident that they could get away with flagrant crimes, and how a department with over $40M in overtime expenses could have “controls” so susceptible to fraud. The ubiquitous “few bad apples” explanation fails to account for Davis admitting the number of other corruption investigations he has participated in over the years, why the department requires three full-time detectives to deal with internal dishonesty, and the reputation BPF has “earned” over the years based on the actions of its criminal “law enforcers.”

Indeed, Baltimore political corruption in general has created an environment where criminality by lawless lawmakers appears the norm, not the exception. So naturally, crime in the general population reflects the quality of citizen who would elect such “leaders,” and the result of that is a “homicide crisis” The Baltimore Sun calls “much worse [than] Chicago’s.”

And naturally, to deal with that, corrupt and incompetent public “officials” do what corrupt and incompetent public “officials” do everywhere their utter worthlessness at achieving anything other than self-promotion and enrichment is exposed: They call for ratcheting up citizen disarmament, and pass stupid new edicts that will have zero effect on predators incubated, sustained and made inevitable by a wealth redistribution-dependent constituency.  That’s what Bloomberg Mayor and convicted fraud Sheila Dixon did to focus attention away from her corruption, and it’s what helped current mayor, Catherine Pugh build her political career on.

While in the Maryland Senate, Pugh supported the so-called “Firearm Safety Act,” described by Capital Gazette as a “bill that would ban the sale of most assault weapons, require gun buyers to provide fingerprints and make it harder for people with mental illnesses to buy guns.” That’s the law that just had a Fourth Circuit panel’s ruling for “strict scrutiny” in Kolbe v. Hogan overturned by an activist en banc court, which late last month bizarrely “ruled” the Second Amendment does not protect militia–suitable weapons (setting the stage for a potential Supreme Court showdown).

The cycle will repeat itself. Billions more dollars will be “transferred” from the productive sector, bureaucracies will be bolstered, more enforcers will be set loose, more corruption will flourish, and nothing will improve because it can’t in such a diseased and oppressive environment. Democrats will continue to control the city, and official and unofficial crime will continue to rise. And when an opportunistic as-yet unindicted criminal politician sees a chance to get some favorable public blood dance press coverage, another “common sense gun safety law” that does nothing but punish the innocent and distract from the real issues will be promoted. The top-down rot will continue as the “Authorized Journalists” and gun-grabbers (but I repeat myself) cheer on each new infringement.

David Codrea in his natural habitat.

About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament.

In addition to being a field editor/columnist at GUNS Magazine and associate editor for Oath Keepers, he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

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trumped

Baltimore is jealous of chicago receiving all of the attention for being a ghetto Mad Max anarcho tyranny based society.

Jim S

Another Chicago in the making.
Is there a democratic city that does have balanced budgets, shall issue permits and low crime?

Bad Cyborg

What do you mean “in the making”? Looks to me like it’s well and truly “made”. Hell! Chicago might actually be a tad BEHIND!

Jambo

Nice hit piece on law enforcement, way to keep the anti cop rhetoric going.

It’s great these dirty cops got busted but you are questioning why they need 3 full time internal affairs officers? With civilian staff they have over 3000 employees!! They should have a whole division of IA to help clean it out. Please find a better use of your time…..like needlepoint.

Gregory Romeu

Maybe more citizens stepping up to the plate, reading their State Constitution and utilizing the mechanism within actually remove these corrupt officials from office is what is in order, rather than sit around doing absolutely nothing and ALLOWING THIS TO CONTINUE?

ALL the bad news coming from Baltimore is a direct reflection of the complacency of the people with no backbone, i.e., sheep, that live within that jurisdiction.

Tionico

Perhaps, rather than questioning why these three internal affairs officers are there, perhaps the REAL question David is asking is HOW CAN IT BE that these three are on the job and producing such minimal results? Their salaries don’t seem to be justified by their work product. Or lack thereof…….

Whit

So sad, while stationed in Quantico in the 1980/90s I drove up to Baltimore many times to visit my girlfriend and her family. Such a great city with history and a nice waterfront area. I wish its residents would Aken up and ditch the Democrats and that some honest folks would take back that wonderful city.

Janek

Maybe building more prisons should be part of Trump’s ‘National Infrastructure Improvement Plan’?

Tionico

Not a good plan… that would cust US< Dear Taxpayers, more.

How's about emptying the prisons of their current population of non-violent visctims of a system that criminalises victimless actions? Until an identifable victim has been specifically harmed, NON ONE should go to prison.

Do that, there will be plenty of room for such as these, who HAVE harmed others by their theft and corruption.