Baltimore Policing Now Resembles Counter-Insurgency

James Kirkpatrick
VDARE
May 23, 2015

Attorney General Loretta Lynch is investigating these guys for “civil rights” violations
Attorney General Loretta Lynch is investigating these guys for “civil rights” violations

Baltimore’s police force, contrary to what you might expect from reading the hysterical reports from the Main Stream Media about the Klan reborn, is actually majority nonwhite [Numbers show most Baltimore cops are minorities by Robert Pollock, Daily Caller, May 14, 2015] Nonetheless, they are perceived as an occupying force by the population in West Baltimore, where residents are now forming hostile mobs every time officers respond to acts of violence.

Not surprisingly, crime has increased. Also not surprisingly, African-Americans pay the highest price, but West Baltimore residents feel it is more important to maintain racial solidarity than live in safe neighborhoods.

Police are struggling to stop violence in West Baltimore, where officers have been routinely surrounded by dozens of people, video cameras and hostility while doing basic police work since the death of Freddie Gray, Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said Wednesday.

The Western District, the site of Gray’s arrest and the epicenter of the protests and rioting that followed his death, has seen the majority of the city’s recent shootings and homicides, which are coming faster than they have in eight years.

In response, Batts said, police are taking measures to re-establish relationships with West Baltimore neighborhoods still angry over Gray’s death April 19, Batts said.

Police have sent in commanders from other districts with experience and contacts in West Baltimore. Backup officers are being sent to routine calls to help protect officers.

“Officers tell me and their supervisors, any time they pull up to respond to a call, they have 30 to 50 people surrounding them,” Batts said. “We have to send in multiple units just to do basic police work, which says we have to work on community engagement.”

[Batts: Police having trouble policing West Baltimore, by Justin George and Justin Fenton, Baltimore Sun, May 20, 2015] 

What we are seeing is nation-building and low level counter-insurgency on American streets. The enforcement mechanism of the state is perceived to be illegitimate by the population and basic services are beginning to break down. Now, police have the challenge of restoring their ability to operate in hostile neighborhoods.

Can it be contained? Certainly, and most likely this will fade quickly. However, if the police aren’t even supported by the city government and the MSM, well funded agitators, and even the President of the United States continue to undermine law enforcement at every opportunity, this has the potential to spiral out of control very quickly.

William Lind’s prophecy of Fourth Generation Warfare coming to the United States doesn’t look so fantastic anymore. Is it going to happen? Probably not. But if it ever does, this is exactly how it starts.