BALTIMORE COUNTY — Community members in Baltimore County laced up their sneakers to walk with purpose. Rain or shine, neighbors in Woodmor happily gathered to discuss the much-needed change for the area.
This is the second crime walk the Randallstown NAACP hosted. The goal is to bring law enforcement, elected officials, and community members together to essentially walk a mile in each other's shoes.
"We’re breaking down the barriers between the community and the police. Obviously, those relationships have been strained at times, and so we're looking to better collaborate with them, so show them that the police are real people and also for the police to connect with the community members as well," said Ryan Coleman President of Randallstown NAACP.
One of the main concerns of residents is the loitering in Woodmor Shopping Center. People like Gloria Shelton says often times, she doesn't feel safe going into certain stores.
"We want to walk around and see the things that need to be corrected in our community. One of our main things is this right here. The Family Dollar Store. We have a problem with it because they weren't keeping it clean. But our first goal is to keep us safe. Safety is number one, clean is number two, and for the community to get familiar with each other," said Shelton.
Police say this walk gave them a chance to hear people's needs and come up with a plan.
"It's so important for us to just listen and hear their concerns, and you know, as you can already see tonight, you know we've already resolved some things and we have some things that will work on. And this is a start to continuing to build more relationships so I'm really excited about it," said Baltimore County Police Chief Melissa Hyatt
"These partnerships really are the reasons why violent crime was down 16% last year, it's flat. This year, it's why homicides are down about 50% in Baltimore County, even though they're up all over the country," said John Olszewski Baltimore County Executive.
The crime walk will be an ongoing initiative that will happen about every three months in different areas of Baltimore County.
