Budgetary constraints in Baltimore: Real and fictional police cuts

Mayor Tommy Carcetti came into office with a genuine commitment to reform the police and change the culture of targets and statistics that had poisoned the BPD under Clarence Royce. Yet, an enormous deficit carried by the Baltimore city schools meant that his hands were tied, and was forced to make swinging cuts to the BPD budget. Season Five essentially revolves around this theme, with Jimmy McNulty and Lester Freeman’s attempts to secure extra funding for investigative work in a drawing-blood-from-the-stone scenario, through their fictional serial killer of homeless men.

Baltimore Police Union protest against pay cuts in January 2011

            Cuts to public services have become commonplace since the global financial crisis in 2007, particularly in Europe, and are omnipresent in my country of origin, the United Kingdom. Yet, it appears that the real-life Baltimore Police Department is also the victim of some incredibly deep cuts. 2% pay cuts for all Baltimore police officers announced in January 2011 means that the average policemen will earn around $205 less per month. In fact, the Baltimore Police Department experienced a total cut of $7 million dollars in FY2012 a total cut of $7 million in FY2012 after a vote by the Baltimore City Council, and while 300 new police officers will be recruited in 2012, many more will be laid off or face compulsory early retirement. While the press appear to be focused on the exploding industrial relations crisis between the City authorities and Police Unions, scant attention appears to be paid to the real-world impact these cuts could have upon safety on the streets of Baltimore.