With four days until primary, Baltimore County executive candidates tackle crime concerns

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WBFF) — With early voting over and primary election day approaching in four days, several candidates running for Baltimore County executive spent Friday campaigning at community events in Woodlawn, where concerns about crime were a central focus.

Councilman Izzy Patoka attended a local artists gathering.

Councilman Julian Jones was at a Juneteenth event, also in Woodlawn.

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“Very few people get away with a crime, let alone a murder, in Baltimore County,” Jones said. “I have been working hard over the years, making sure that I do my part to fund the tools that the police need to do their job.”

The candidates’ focus on public safety comes as Baltimore County police this week released the identity of a suspect wanted in the shooting death of Towson University student Nasir Majied on June 5.

“I’m not surprised that they have a suspect,” Patoka said.

The campaign stops were part of a broader push by candidates to address what they say they are hearing from constituents about crime.

Candidate Nick Stewart said, “I think it’s real. We hear this all the time.”

Patoka highlighted a piece of his public safety plan that would expand law enforcement capacity by tapping into the county sheriff’s office.

“Right now, they’re limited to the courthouse where they’re mainly doing prisoner transport. They’re trained officers. They can do so much more. They’re right in Towson,” Patoka said. “I think the sheriff’s office will be willing to engage outside of the courthouse, but also into the community so that we have a stronger law enforcement presence.”

Jones said his approach would include increasing police visibility and shifting responsibilities, so officers can focus on serious crimes and areas with higher levels of violence.

“The way we’re gonna do that we’re gonna have a visibility. First of all, we’re going to free up our officers. We have a plan. We’re trying to take some things off their plate so that they can focus on hot spots and focus on the serious crimes,” Jones said. “Secondly, we have a plan where I’m going to utilize an untapped resource. Our school resource officers. They have a special, they have the right temperament. They have the right training to deal with kids.”

Councilman Pat Young said enforcement is necessary, but not sufficient on its own.

“There is a belief that we can arrest our way out of these problems. And the reality is that we should and need to arrest and get violent criminals off the street,” Young said. “We need to remember that there are indicative causes of crime that Baltimore County government and we as a people have a responsibility to address.”

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Stewart said his plan includes a mix of enforcement, accountability and prevention.

“We gotta be tough on crime, but we gotta be smart on crime and do the things that other jurisdictions do that see real results,” Stewart said. “So this means tracking our data and holding ourselves accountable for performance. It means hiring more police officers for community policing. It means aggressively targeting and prosecuting repeat offenders and providing true, meaningful youth interventions.”

When asked whether constituents should consider him tough on crime, Patoka said, “Yes. And they can consider me tough on crime, but also I think that compassion and empathy is underrated. And so for me, you’ll see a toughness, but you’ll also see compassion and you’ll see empathy.”

Jones said his approach is rooted in helping people but also holding offenders accountable.

“My philosophy has always been, I want to do everything in my power to help people. I’ll do everything my power,” he said. “But at the end of the day, when they cross the line and they hurt grandma or my neighbor or people that are working hard trying to get ahead, then we have to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”

FOX45 News reached out to all seven candidates in the race, including Republican candidate Kim Stansbury, who responded by email saying in part that “Public Safety would be her top priority.”

Follow FOX45 reporter Keith Daniels on X and Facebook. Send tips to Kdaniels@sbgtv.com.