I promised my BPD source that I would not name the day or the number of officers on duty one day this past week, as he does not want to get busted.

This anonymous BPD officer told me that due to quitting, retirements, the time required to train newly hired officers and "other factors, like exhaustion and call-outs" that on one afternoon last week there was a certain number of officers on patrol in Baltimore City.

Let me give you a clue: it was less than the optimal number of officers.

If you can guess the number I will confirm the total and send you a PDF of a book of your choice.

If you are wrong, I will give you the bad news, but you can guess again the next day.

So, ma reada, do tell a snow nigga how many poleese was on patrol in Harm City during one particular daylight shift last week!

10/17/17

Tony Rooster

The goddess Fortuna came unto me as in a vision and revealed to this mere mortal that the number is 7.

One middle-aged white man's opinion

1.I would assume that BPD has minimum staffing standards arrived at through a collective bargaining agreement arrived at between the City and the BPD Union/Guild. Therefore, they would put out a call for OT volunteers at time-and-a-half to prevent falling below the red line. So many cops are paying alimony and-or overextended on houses, cars, boats, etc. that there should be no shortage of “OT whores” willing to come in and go through the motions.

2.The time from roughly 2 pm to 5 pm (give or take) SHOULD be the “fattest” time of day, since swing shifts come in around 2 and day shifts head for the barn at 4 or 5. However, even on full staffing this seldom leads to a flood of cops on the street, because that overlap time is taken up with court appearances, collateral duties, or what is laughingly referred to as “training”.

3.So excluding the detectives cuddled in their cubicles at HQ, Traffic units busily ticketing middle-class commuters, and social-workers-with-badges such as School Resource Officers and Community Liaison Officers; and given that B-More is a vibrant, diverse city of 600,000+, I would be greatly surprised if there were fewer than 30 patrol doggies out on the street at that time.

-Shep