Unintended Consequences

The law of unintended consequences states that actions of people, and often those of government, have effects that are not anticipated or are completely unintended. The difference between good and bad leaders is that the bad leaders confine themselves to visible effect; the good leader takes into account both the effect that can be easily seen and those effects that must be foreseen based on information, knowledge and in seeing the bigger picture. Unfortunately, politicians have a long and storied history of largely operating with knee-jerk reactions and tunnel vision once committed to a certain political ideology or goal.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES IN BALTIMORE

Amid calls nationwide to defund the police, the federal judge overseeing the Baltimore Police Consent Decree has said that such reform options may exist in other cities, but not in Baltimore. In 2017, Baltimore leaders chose the path of the federally enforced decree and the city has a legal obligation to complete those reforms. U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar said the city must continue with its years-long reform efforts, which require increased funding along with the hiring of more police officers. “A specific path has already been chosen here,” Bredar said. “The court will require that the city travel down that path until it reaches the destination of ‘substantial compliance.' Until the city comes into compliance, the decree will be the template for how police reform is accomplished here.” I bet no one in Baltimore city government anticipated the full cost and commitment of agreement to the Consent Decree that political leaders in 2017 were so eager to ratify and begin implementation of.

In spite of the Consent Decree and ruling, recent city council authorization to begin defunding certain operational aspects of the Baltimore City Police Department have resulted in the abolition of the marine unit and the nation’s oldest mounted unit. Tunnel vision in the current quest to defund law enforcement and reallocate savings from law enforcement to other social services and programs may actually be a commitment to increased spending without benefit from monies spent due to unintended consequences. It has been reported that $2.4 million is the projected savings of these units being taken out of service (WJZ-TV). The cost saving motives, however, may have backfired in a big way.

The Mounted Unit is a public relations favorite and is actually an integral part of the department’s crowd control strategy when confronted by unruly mobs. Baltimore city is likely going to pay for cutting the mounted unit. The city didn’t pay for a newly constructed $3.5 million horse stable facility on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum grounds which were funded largely through private investment. The city did, however, sign a 15-year lease in November 2018. Now the city stands to break the lease and bear the “unamortized” cost of the facility, which accounts for depreciation. Since the stable has never been used, the city may have to pay back the full $3.5 million. The city council “moved very quickly and may not have been aware that the city had signed a lease with the B&O” according to the museum’s executive director.

The Marine Unit is an important element of city police services to this Major Port City and Inner Harbor area which serves as a recreational destination and tourist attraction. Just prior to the unit disbanding, it was involved in a life-saving operation with its underwater dive team. Since eliminated, another incident occurred in the Baltimore Harbor resulting in extended response times to assist those in distress. It has been speculated that Homeland Security Grants awarded to the City of Baltimore may require some payback now that the Marine Unit is no longer in service.

So not only is there a cost in diminished quality of service and wasted professional expertise, but how much more money will the city need to spend to receive even less in return? Are the Consent Decree and financial and funding agreements being ignored when it comes to previous obligations on expenditures? The primary obligation of government is that of public safety. Fiscal responsibility also ranks high on the list of taxpayer expectations. Actions such as these seem to signal the complete demise of government legitimacy. As someone who grew up in a retail sales family I have only one remaining question to ask.  Who's minding the store?

Joel E. Gordon is a former Field Training Officer with the Baltimore City Police Department and is a past Chief of Police for the city of Kingwood, West Virginia. He has also served as vice-chair of a multi-jurisdictional regional narcotics task force. An award-winning journalist, he is author of the book Still Seeking Justice: One Officer's Story and founded the Facebook group Police Authors Seeking Justice. Look him up at stillseekingjustice.com