New Baltimore Police district borders go into effect Sunday
BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Police Department districts will change on Sunday morning in keeping with a redistricting map that was presented to the city's lawmakers in 2022.
The plan is to deploy officers in a more efficient way that reflects years of demographic changes and crime trends, according to authorities.
Officials have said the redistricting changes would help officers respond to crime faster, allow districts to increase deployments and save the police department money.
Mayor Brandon Scott noted when the map was submitted that the police boundaries have not undergone significant changes since 1959. The redistricting effort has been a priority for Scott.
But the plan to change the borders sparked pushback from neighborhood groups along with the Baltimore City Council members who represent them, according to WJZ's media partner The Baltimore Banner.
The Baltimore Police Department has defended its redistricting plan. Department officials noted in a statement on Friday that it would equalize officer workload across posts, reduce driving distance across sectors, and keep neighborhoods together.
"We used a data-driven approach to develop sectors and posts that balances officer workload, better aligns with our staffing plan and ensures we are providing policing services more equitably for all neighborhoods across the City," Deputy Commissioner Eric Melancon said in the sattement.
The Baltimore Police Department defines workload by the hours that officers spend responding to 911 calls, per the Baltimore Banner. However, the Baltimore Banner has compiled an analysis that shows attempts to distribute those hours equally under the new borders inevitably will lead to other inequities.
The Baltimore Banner reports that the most notable effect will be to saddle larger districts such as the Western, Eastern, Southwestern and Central with areas that have seen more shootings, homicides and aggravated assaults.
The redistricting effort has been a significant undertaking for a police department that is still navigating its federal consent decree, according to the Baltimore Banner.
