BALTIMORE — For the first time in more than half-a-century, the Baltimore City Police Department is looking to redraw the geographic boundaries of its nine patrol districts.
But first, the department wants input from the public.
One main goal of redistricting would be to reduce crime more effectively, by better balancing the department's resources and staffing.
To determine how new maps and boundaries are drawn, the police department plans to weigh a combination of call service data, crime trends, high violence areas, and changes in each area's population based off the recently completed census.
“We have been deploying police resources based on a more than 50-year-old model that does not account for changes in population, housing, and other demographic data,” said Commissioner Michael S. Harrison.
Once completed, the department says all district stations will be located within the set geography, and accessible by transit lines.
There's also hope that officers assigned to each district could respond to crime faster and more efficiently at a cheaper cost.
“Redistricting is long overdue. We have been working with unbalanced manpower and inefficient allocation of resources. These changes should bring a renewed sense of safety and involvement to the community,” said Harrison.
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