Baltimore police responding to calls for increased presence in Federal Hill after brawl
BALTIMORE -- A significant increase in police presence is expected this weekend in Federal Hill after a video of a violent brawl on Charles Street circulated on social media.
The video from last weekend showed people fighting, kicking and screaming in the middle of the street near E. Cross Street.
"We need BPD to take action to regain control of the neighborhood," City Councilman Eric Costello told WJZ earlier this week.
Four officers could be seen around 10 p.m. on Saturday night near the intersection where the incident happened.
Four officers are deployed here now on South Charles Street and East Cross Street where a brawl broke out in the middle of the street last weekend @wjz pic.twitter.com/STz00qttIN
— Stetson Miller (@stetsonmreports) August 21, 2022
Costello represents the neighborhood. He asked for the deployment of the police department's mobile metro unit, mounted unit, SWAT team members and additional patrol overtime for the neighborhood.
"It's not just that video. There's been multiple incidences that have been escalating throughout the summer," said Garrett Schiche, board president of Federal Hill Main Street.
Business community members said in a letter that lawlessness and disorder has reached alarming levels over the last few weeks in the neighborhood.
"It sucks to just have people come down here and start fighting it's not a good look for the neighborhood," said Daniel Manchester, who works in the area.
Schiche said he is worried about what could happen to Federal Hill if the crime continues.
"If we really start to get a reputation of this kind of disorder and chaos within the neighborhood, it's going to put a lot of businesses in a precarious position because people aren't going to want to come down here," he said.