In addressing escalating Baltimore City violence Tuesday, Police Commissioner Kevin Davis had tough words for judges who let criminals out of jail.
"Worst case scenario, they're going to get a finger wagged at them," Davis said of gun convicts, "and they're going to get sent home with a suspended sentence."
Davis says that for the first time in B.P.D. history, the department has been tracking the outcome of gun arrests that end with a guilty verdict. He says since the beginning of 2016, 60 percent of convicts had been let out of jail early through a suspended sentence.
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In that same amount of time, police found that 98 people were arrested twice for gun crimes. Six were arrested three times.
"They know that if they're caught, nothing's going to happen to him," said Davis.
Police have been trying to get a handle on violence that has taken the lives of six people since Monday night. Davis says criminals are not scared of what may happen to them if caught.
"They do not fear arrest, they do not fear a successful prosecution. Quite frankly, they don't even fear a damn guilty verdict."
Baltimore Police says it will be beefing up patrols through at least the end of the week, requiring 12-hour shifts for all patrol officers and detectives.
