Baltimore mayor holds closed-door safety meeting as shootings surge, residents notice

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — A closed-door meeting at Baltimore City Hall this week is drawing attention as the city grapples with a recent rash of shootings, including five mass shootings in the past five weeks.

Mayor Brandon Scott called in public safety leaders Tuesday to address the violence, bringing together Police Commissioner Richard Worley and Stefanie Mavronis, director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, also known as MONSE.

A day after the meeting, some residents are saying they see the meeting as a sign the mayor is responding. “I think it’s a good thing because he’s taking action,” one woman said Wednesday. A man added, “(The mayor) wants to ensure the public that he’s taking steps towards this. So, there’s politics involved in this, of course. He’s calling his people and trying to figure out what’s going on in these streets.”

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Political analyst John Dedie said the mayor’s decision to convene the meeting signaled urgency. “I think what the mayor did by having this big meeting with everybody police etc was to show a sense of urgency,” Dedie said.

Dedie also described the move as politically smart, arguing it can help prevent public fear from escalating during a spike in violence. “I think that it was a very smart move because the one thing you don’t want to do is spook the public into a situation of like, oh my God, we’re back to what it used to be like,” Dedie said. “People can get very scared easily. When all of a sudden you see a spike in crime.”

The meeting came as October has already become the deadliest month of the year, with 17 people killed as of Monday. Among the victims were people shot in a mass shooting at a BP gas station on Edmondson Avenue near Franklintown Road on Sunday that left two people dead and three others injured.

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Dedie said a closed-door meeting can allow for blunt conversations among leaders. “A closed door meeting probably involves a lot of profanity, you know, you know, it starts with what the (expletive ) is going on. And, you know, and that’s the type of meeting you need,” he said. “I mean, you need you need to, I’m sure the mayor vented some frustration, saying, hey, things are going well. And now, what the (expletive) is going on here.”

After the meeting, a spokesperson with the Mayor’s Office said Baltimore police are responding to the recent gun violence in several ways, including directing additional resources toward identifying those responsible.

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