Don’t ask the Baltimore police for help ever
These events transpired two months ago, but I only heard of them today.
On May 13, 2006, Josh Kelly and Llara Brook — a young white couple from Virginia — went to see the Orioles play in Baltimore. On the way back, they got lost (I don’t blame them, the city has a rather insane street layout) and ended up on Bridgeview Drive in an area called Cherry Hill. They drove up to a Baltimore City Housing Police officer Natalie Preston, to ask for directions to I-95. Friendly officer Preston fined them for running a stop sign (Josh Kelly is disputing the violation), and told them, “You found your own way in here, you can find your own way out.” Josh and Llara then drove up to another police officer, hoping that not all Baltimore cops are so rude. But before they had a chance to ask the second cop, friendly officer Preston ran between the cars, and announced that “my partner is not going to step in front of me and tell you directions if I’m not.” Josh and Llara then drove 40 feet down the road, parked, turned on emergency flashers, and started looking at their maps. At which point friendly officer Preston told Josh to get out of the car and arrested him of them for, of all things, trespassing. Llara pleaded with the officer, saying “Ma’am, you know, we just need your help. We are not trying to cause you any trouble. I’m not leaving him here.” Friendly officer Preston reacted by arresting Llara. The young couple spent 8 hours in city jail, and were released in the morning without being charged. To add insult to injury, they had to pay $200 to get their car out of police impound, only to discover that someone (quite possibly a Baltimore cop) had broken into it and stolen various stuff. They are planning to sue.
(Sources: WBAL, AP, The Examiner, Baltimore’s NBC4, and google.)
This raises a number of interesting questions.
First, if you park on the side of the street, can you actually be charged for trespassing? Theoretically, if you are parking on private land (someone’s driveway) or government property (a city housing complex). Since the Virginia couple were not charged with anything, it seems they parked legally and Natalie Preston of Baltimore’s finest was bullshitting them.
Second, why was officer Natalie Preston so rude and hostile? Because she is a Baltimore cop.
Third, why did she want the young couple out of Cherry Hill? I have no firsthand knowledge of Cherry Hill. However, google informs me that Cherry Hill has a very special reputation in Baltimore. Any white person in the neighborhood is assumed to be either (a) looking for cheap drugs; or (b) very, very stupid. Thus, it makes sense that a Cherry Hill beat cop would want Josh and Llara to move along.
Fourth, why did officer Preston arrest the young couple on a bullshit charge? Because according to Examiner’s “inside sources,” the commander of Baltimore’s housing authority police, Maj. Jessie Oden, had ordered his officers to make more arrests. Presumably, she was looking for someone to arrest to finish her daily quota, and well, the young Virginians politely asked her for help at just the wrong time.
Of course, Mr. Oden’s alleged policy was quite idiotic. Margaret Burns, of Maryland State’s Attorney’s Office, says that the state throws out 70 cases a day because cops fail to provide evidence for a suspect to be charged. This is an impressive waste of police time and taxpayers’ money. So why yould Mr. Oden order police to make more arrests? If I were to guess, I would hypothesize that the Baltimore police are under pressure from Mayor O’Malley to provide statistics which show that crime in the city is finally falling (O’Malley was elected for promising law and order). Earlier this year, the city police were accused of faking their statistics by reclassifying crimes. It’s not unreasonable to imagine that Mr. Oden’s orders are another way to help the Baltimore police (and the Mayor’s office) look good on paper. However, I don’t follow Baltimore politics, so do not take my guess as fact.
Now, you may conclude from all of this that if you are not suspiciously cruising around Cherry Hill, the Baltimore cops won’t hassle you. That would be a very wrong conclusion, as Matthew Capp, a Baltimore port worker, found out merely 6 days after the Josh and Llara arrest. He called 911 because he heard someone breaking into his house late at night. Turned out it was his daughter (perhaps she lost her keys?). A police officer arrived, Mr. Capp told him there was nobody to arrest, so the officer arrested Mr. Capp and took him to jail in socks and pyjamas. Just like Josh and Llara, Matthew Capp was released in the morning and was not charged with anything.
Ergo, do not ask Baltimore police for help ever, not unless you are already bleeding to death (and even then, a resourceful Baltimore cop might find a reason to keep you in jail overnight).
September 9th, 2006 at 5:24
I am a resident of Cherry Hill, and when I heard the story a couple of months ago, I felt so sorry for the couple, embarassed for the community and city, and angry that the cop and the dept. wasn’t openly and publicly reprimanded for thier actions. And for everyones future information, the residents of Cherry Hill will gladly give you directions. Although there are many private homes in Cherry Hill, for some strange reason, the drugs and crime in Cherry Hill’s projects stay contained primarily in the projects. They hurt each other for the most part and not strangers. So stay away from the cops and ask a citizen. Baltimore cops really feel that they are above the law, and “ARE” the law. The only way they get disciplined is if they cost the city money through embarrasement or law suits. So just imagine what it’s like to live here under thier authority. Please follow up on this and let everyone know what was done as a result of the dept’s so called investigation of these events.