BALTIMORE — Murders, armed robberies, carjackings, these are crimes that make it to headlines every day.
Those who see them first-hand are ones who have to make a living on city streets, like the cab driver who took us on a ride-along sharing his experience with Baltimore’s plaguing violence.
In his 33 years as a cab driver in Baltimore City, Ahsan Rana says he's been able to make a good living for his family but it's not a career path he'd willingly put his loved ones on.
"Why do I want to put somebody in the cab business ‘okay go ahead and start driving cabs’ and he going to get robbed he’s going to get killed and within 3 weeks because he doesn’t know what to do, where to go who to pick," said Rana.
Rana shares some of violent crimes he's seen have been troubling and how often it happens makes matters worse.
“I see almost every other day a shooting in front of me. Right in front of me. If I’m standing behind the bus and somebody gets off the bus somebody come from behind from my cab and shot him and they run away," he said.
He says within the last few weeks he watched a similar situation unfold.
"Two guys were standing right here in front of me talking to each other and one guy started running toward my cab and the guy was behind him. He pulled the gun out, shot him and I was like damn," Rana recalled.
That's why he says he's selective about who he and his colleagues are picking up every day.
"They don’t pick up anybody from the street even a woman with kids, they’ll rob you. Even a woman with 2 kids, she’s flagging you, she will rob you," he said.
With worries like that, he says more proactive policing in Baltimore would make the streets safer for him and other cab drivers.
"The thing is the police are so scared from these kids, they don’t do action against them. The only action goes against people who get caught," said Rana.
But for younger drivers and his loved ones living in the city, he says he's hoping for a change.
"I hope something comes better some person comes better and they do something with the law. Change the law, make a strong law and punish," he said.
