Baltimore mayoral candidate Sheila Dixon criticizes meager use of citation docket, says ‘heads would roll’ if she was mayor – Baltimore Sun

Baltimore mayoral candidate Sheila Dixon condemned the low number of citations issued by the Baltimore Police Department under the leadership of Mayor Brandon Scott, saying during a news conference Friday that “heads would roll” if she was mayor.

Dixon’s comments came in response to a meeting of the Baltimore City Council’s Public Safety and Government Operations Committee on Wednesday where the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office said only 37 citations written by Baltimore Police have made it to a citation docket since its July launch.

The docket is an initiative of State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, who called for law enforcement to issue criminal citations to people for low-level offenses, such as loitering, drinking in public and drug possession. Those who receive citations are required to report to a special docket, hosted once monthly in three of the city’s four District Court locations, where prosecutors are supposed to offer community service in lieu of prosecution.

The program marks a departure from Bates’ predecessor, Marilyn Mosby, who discontinued the prosecutions of low-level offenses.

Patricia Deros with the state’s attorney’s office said Wednesday that Baltimore Police internally rejected 68 citations issued between July and December because they weren’t written sufficiently, meaning roughly half the citations issued by city police did not make it to the citation docket.

Dixon, a Democrat who campaigned for Bates, said the low use of the citation docket shows the Scott administration has “no concern” for quality-of-life crimes. She pledged to become a “true partner” to the state’s attorney if elected and estimated that at least 15-20 citations should be written weekly by the department.

“Everywhere I go in the entire city, every community, every neighborhood, it’s about the quality-of life-crimes that are happening in our neighborhoods and communities,” Dixon said.

Dixon, who served as the city’s mayor from 2007 to 2010 before being forced from office by a scandal, is running to reclaim her seat. Scott, the city’s mayor since 2020, is seeking reelection. They will face Democrats Thiru Vignarajah, Robert Wallace and several lesser-known candidates in the May 14 primary.

The City Council also learned Wednesday that Baltimore Police had not responded to an offer from the state’s attorney’s office to train police on the issuance of citations. Deputy Commissioner Monique Brown said it had been an “educational process” and noted that the department hadn’t written citations for a long time. Deputy Commissioner Kevin Jones added that the agency had put out electronic training on citations, created “placards” with best practices for frequently used citation offenses and was sending notice to officers and their supervisors when citations are rejected.

Brown said the citations are a “tool” for officers, but verbal warnings prior to citations can sometimes resolve the issues taking place, she said. The Central District issued more than 757 warnings in downtown and Fells Point in 2023, Brown said. Data on other districts wasn’t immediately available.

Dixon said Friday she doesn’t believe the warnings have been effective, citing several instances in which she has seen people loitering in the city.

“The police department needs to step up, they need to get trained property to understand what it takes and then get out there and start providing citations,” Dixon said.

Dixon stopped short, however, of explaining which “heads” would “roll” if she were to be elected. She said she would not discuss personnel changes and would not say whether she would cut ties with Commissioner Richard Worley, who was appointed by Scott last year.

Scott’s campaign manager Nick Machado called Dixon’s concerns about the citation docket “feigned.”

“Sheila Dixon again confirmed she wants to take Baltimore City back to the failed broken crime policies of the past, including zero-tolerance policing which terrorized Black communities,” Machado said.

Shortly after taking office in 2007, Dixon appointed a police commissioner from within the department who emphasized targeted arrests of violent shooters, a shift from the zero-tolerance policies of her predecessor Martin O’Malley.

“Mayor Scott has achieved what Sheila Dixon never could,” Machado said. “He’s proven that we can have record reductions in violent crime without terrorizing Black communities through mass arrests.”