[FOXBALTIMORE] As the number of street crimes committed in Baltimore City escalates, so does the level of fear. This has caused communities to look beyond the police for protection.
In Baltimore City there are four special tax districts where residents pay more to make their neighborhoods safer. Charles Village is one of them and has the lowest surtax of the four. It was formed in the mid-1990s as a way for the community to provide supplemental security and sanitation services to what the city was already providing. The surtax charged to homeowners has never been altered.
Baltimore's Little Italy community is one of the latest to seek to hire its own private security force, following the recent beating and robbery caught on a private security camera.
The added layer of security is an effective one, City Councilman James Kraft says. "We've had this effort undertaken in Greektown. We've talked about it in Highlandtown and we've done it during St. Patrick's Day at O'Donnell square. It works - it's proven and we want to implement it where ever we can," Kraft said.
Oftentimes it's the same people being paid to keep the community safe.
| What a sweet deal. It's almost as if it's a plan... |
"We have a program that allows us to hire off duty police officers and it allows us to get officers in neighborhoods where we have greater concerns," Kraft said. |