RESIDENTS FRUSTRATED OVER CRIME

New police leaders hear angry comments at a council forum; `The city
is dying'; Public meetings are prelude to Daniel confirmation hearings

Baltimore residents fed up with crime, angry with police
and afraid of drug dealers took their frustrations to the city's new
police leadership team last night and sounded a desperate cry for help.

Some called the police an occupying force that needed to be
checked.

Others said officers do nothing as drug dealers openly ply their trade
on street corners.

All agreed that change is necessary for safer communities.

"How did the city get this way?" said Charles Dugger, a city
schoolteacher and recent mayoral candidate. "People have big talk and
big salaries and the city is dying. Where is the creative leadership?
Restore this city, but believe in the people."

Police Commissioner Ronald L. Daniel and his two new deputies listened
from a stage in the auditorium at Polytechnic Institute in North
Baltimore during the first of two community meetings sponsored by the
City Council's Public Safety Committee.

The forums -- the second is set for 7 o'clock to 9 o'clock tonight at
Dunbar High School in East Baltimore -- are designed as a prelude to
the council's confirmation hearing on the Daniel appointment set for
late this month or in early February.

Crime has been a top issue and helped propel Mayor Martin O'Malley
into City Hall with his promise for more assertive policing to end a
decade of 300-plus killings a year that has made Baltimore one of the
deadliest cities in the nation.

Councilman Norman A. Handy Sr., chairman of the public safety
committee, moderated the forum but did not ask Daniel or his police
commanders to respond to public comments. The top officers listened
attentively and took notes.

"Your ideas are about making Baltimore a better city, a safer city for
all of us," Handy told the more than 100 people who attended the 2
1/2-hour meeting.

City Council members distributed a public safety survey to gauge
perception of crime and police. Questions asked of respondents
included rating the safety of their neighborhoods compared with the
Inner Harbor, whether they support a gun ban and if closing open-air
drug markets will reduce crime.

The survey also asked citizens to grade officers on whether they are
honest, racist, competent, lazy, sincere or corrupt.

After the forum, Daniel told residents that their concerns had not
fallen on deaf ears. He told them that the new assertive-style
policing, dubbed zero tolerance, will not be a term used to describe
how officers do their jobs.

"You are not going to hear me talk about zero tolerance," Daniel said.
"But you will see zero-tolerance results."

It was clear during the sometimes lengthy speeches from citizens that
they want change to end violence. One by one, homeowners, public
housing residents, teachers, parents and preachers took a microphone
and impassionedly said what was wrong with their city and its leaders.

Francis Kane of Southeast Baltimore said he and his neighbors
constantly dial 911, but complained "response time is none. Something
needs to be done. We're totally sick of it. Clean it up."

Armand Gerard said he worked on O'Malley's campaign because he liked
the mayor's idea of "zero-tolerance" policing, designed to target
nuisance crimes to deter more serious ones.

"I'm just wondering what the state of all this is," Gerard told the
police officials and City Council members sitting on the stage. "What
parts are going to be implemented and what parts are going to be ignored?"

Some speakers were well known to city officials and the
media.

Civic activist A. Robert Kaufman was the first speaker, lecturing the
panel on the evils of crime and imploring them to legalize drugs as
the only way to end violence. Others who have protested routinely
outside police headquarters called for accountability in what happens
to drugs and guns seized by officers.

Many who spoke were homeowners who offered ideas on how to end the
shootings and slayings. One wanted police dogs stationed on corners to
sniff out hidden drug stashes. Another wanted bicycles to be
registered to scare off youngsters who use them to carry drugs. And
another wanted drivers licenses suspended for anyone caught selling
cocaine or heroin.

Some people told Daniel that citizens are afraid of his
officers.

Maxine McRae of Northeast Baltimore said a lieutenant told her
14-year-old son, "We don't teach sensitivity. We teach
marksmanship."

McRae told the police officials, "I'm not afraid of the gangsters. I'm
afraid of you."

But Lamont McAdams of Northwest Baltimore said he wants more assertive
police patrols.

"With the situation as desperate as it is, we need to get behind the
police," McAdams said. "I'm all for zero tolerance. I want to see
officers get out of their cars and pull people up."