SpotCrime - The Public's Crime Map

It’s clear that policing in America is in crisis. Particularly in my hometown Baltimore, where no less than three separate Federal investigations are currently underway into the patterns and practices of an agency that has made international headlines with the death of Freddie Gray while in their custody earlier this month. The problem is communities like Baltimore and throughout the country need effective policing. And when an agency falters like the Baltimore police department, the community and the cops who serve them suffer. At SpotCrime, I’ve always believed one of the best ways to address any problem, including crime, is transparency. That’s why when investigative reporter Stephen Janis and former Baltimore Homicide Detective Kelvin Sewell approached me about publishing a book in part on the problems inside the BPD, I agreed. The book, Why Do We Kill: The Pathology of Murder in Baltimore, examines policing in Baltimore in all its complexity and challenges.  In ...

Can you prevent a murder? It's a question that's meant to be both provocative and meaningful. Can  we , as a community, put an end to the most heinous of crimes? Could  we , with more policing, stricter laws, or greater transparency stop a criminal from taking a life?  It's also an issue that former Baltimore City Homicide detective Stephen Tabeling has much to say about. Lieutenant Tabeling is a cop who investigated some of the most notorious murders in Baltimore throughout the tumultuous and violent decade of the 1970s. He is also another law enforcement expert who has partnered with SpotCrime to tackle the topic that encompasses everything  we   do : how to make the communities  we  serve safer.  His take on the vexing question of what can be done, if anything to prevent the violent taking of a life, doesn't hew to the popular philosophy of beefing up police departments and building more prisons. In fact, in his book 'You Can't Stop Murde...