The Baltimore Police Department is redrawing its nine police districts and is seeking community input.
Mayor Brandon Scott and Commissioner Michael Harrison both said police redistricting is “long overdue” for Baltimore.
“Population, workload, crime trends, and even individual neighborhoods have changed dramatically in the decades since our district boundaries were last drawn,” Scott said in a statement. “We must be more thoughtful about our resources, including deployments. This shift will allow BPD to manage crime more effectively, maximize resources, and reflects my commitment to transform BPD into the world-class department our residents deserve.”
“We have been deploying police resources based on a more than 50-year-old model that does not account for changes in population, housing, and other demographic data,” Harrison added in a statement.
In addition to community input, BPD will also use data related to calls for service, crime trends, prevalence of violence, and population changes to draw the new district boundaries and make any changes to the allocation of resources and personnel across the city.
The redistricting and resource reallocation efforts come as Scott is proposing to increase police spending for the second straight year as mayor, a move that has garnered criticism for Baltimore residents who have advocated instead to defund the police department and reallocate funds to other parts of the city.
Residents can submit an online feedback form on BPD’s website.
The form asks respondents which police district and neighborhood they live in, whether they are satisfied with police’s response time and community engagement, whether their police district’s boundaries should remain as they are currently drawn or be changed, and whether they own a business or work at one in Baltimore City. Residents can also provide additional written feedback about their police district.
“Police District boundaries have been outdated for quite some time,” Baltimore City Councilam John Bullock said in a statement. “Areas such as the Tri-District (Western/Southwestern/Southern) with high criminal activity are representative of the need for a more targeted approach to public safety. Updating this map will allow for coverage that betters reflects current conditions and patterns.”
BPD will collect community input before and after the new district map is created.
Each district station will be located within its respective district’s boundaries, will be accessible by transit lines, and have “sufficient” parking and bicycle racks, city officials said.
