New crime-fighting strategy to target Baltimore's high-crime communities

BALTIMORE (WBFF) - The city's spike in homicides comes as the police department faces a shortage of officers.

But police commanders have just expanded a new tactic to pinpoint high-crime communities.

FOX45's John Rydell looked into reaction to the violence-reduction strategy.

Commanders are now dispatching officers in the highest-crime neighborhoods and are required to spend 15 to 20 minutes per shift in several of those communities.

City Council President Brandon Scott says he is hoping the new strategy will be implemented fairly.

"We know that we don't them out there picking up anybody for anything. I want them focusing on the people that are committing the violence."

But in a tweet, the Fraternal Order of Police questions if the strategy will be effective, especially with the department shorthanded by as many as 500 officers.

City Councilman Zeke Cohen says that cannot be an excuse.

"We do have a shortage of officers, but at the same time, we need to make sure that we are deploying officers effectively, and that they have a laser-like focus on reducing violence in our community."

But Cohen also says the police department alone cannot address the cycle of violence.

"This is about lack of access to jobs, this about lack of a family sustainable wage, this is about lack of investment in infrastructure, whether that be public transit on whether that be public housing."