This is a written statement of Kevin Ring, president, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, submitted to the Baltimore City Council Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee July 25, 2017.
“FAMM understands the impetus for this proposed ordinance. By any metric, Baltimore’s crime rate is unacceptable. In 2015, Baltimore’s violent crime rate was more than four times the national average. Its property crime rate was more than twice the national average that year. Even more troubling is Baltimore’s murder rate, which was more than 11 times the national average in 2015. Perhaps most troubling: in 2015, 93 percent of Baltimore’s murder victims were African-American.1 There can be no doubt that Baltimore is currently experiencing an intolerable crime wave, the burden of which falls most heavily on the city’s most vulnerable citizens. Crime is a clear and present danger to the citizens of Baltimore, and this City Council is tasked with finding a solution.”