Video: North Calhoun Street in west Baltimore a microcosm of city's problems

DONNA: AND IS THE CITY SPENDING
ITS MONEY IN THE RIGHT PLACE?
HERE'S I-TEAM LEAD INVESTIGATIVE
REPORTER JAYNE MILLER.
JAYNE: 900 BLOCK NORTH CALHOUN
STREET.
WEST BALTIMORE.
WHERE EVERY CHALLENGE FACING
BALTIMORE IS DEEPLY ENTRENCHED.
>> I WOULDN'T RAISE MY CHILDREN
IN THIS AREA AT ALL.
JAYNE: BLIGHTED BUILDINGS SCAR
THE COMMUNITY LANDSCAPE.
OF 22 PROPERTIES ON THE BLOCK,
13 ARE OWNED BY THE CITY OR
HOUSING AUTHORITY.
THE REST BY OUTSIDERS.
A DICE GAME DRAWS A CROWD ON A
WARM AFTERNOON.
THERE'S NOT MUCH ELSE TO D
CRIME IS A BAD NEIGHBOR NO ONE
CAN EVICT.
THE BLOCK DREW OUR ATTENTION
WHEN WE LOOKED AT LONG TERM
TRENDS OF VIOLENCE.
IN 1998, THE FATAL DOUBLE
SHOOTING OF TWO MEN ON THE BLOCK
WERE THE CITY'S FIRST TWO
HOMICIDES THAT YEAR.
LAST YEAR, THERE WERE AT LEAST 3
SHOOTINGS ON THE BLOCK.
THERE WAS A TRIPLE SHOOOTING IN
2011, THE SAME YEAR THE CITY SAW
A RARE DROP IN HOMICIDES BELOW
200.
WE COULD GO ON, BUT TALK TO
PEOPLE HERE.
WHAT THEY WANT IS NOT MORE
POLICE.
>> WHEN I WALKED UP TO YOU ON
THE CORNER, YOU SAID YOU GOT A
JOB FOR ME?
>> YEAH, YOU GOT A JOB FOR ME?
NEED WORK, EVERYBODY NEED WORK.
JAYNE: JOBS ARE SCARCE.
THERE IS NO BANK.
NO GROCERY STORE.
THERE IS A CORNER STORE, A
LIQUOR STORE, A BAIL BONDSMAN.
>> MOST PEOPLE DON'T FINISH
SCHOOL.
THEY DROP OUT.
THEY DROP OUT AND SEE THEIR WAY
OUT AS SELLING DRUGS.
AND WHEN YOU SELL DRUGS YOU HAVE
OTHER THINGS.
YOU HAVE CRIME, YOU HAVE MURDER.
>> IT'S ONE OF THESE AREAS THAT
EVERYBODY FORGOT.
THEY FORGOT OR THEY DON'T EVEN
CARE.
I MEAN I'M TALKING ABOUT
, GOVERNMENT, CITY OFFICIALS,
ANYBODY.
JAYNE: THE CITY CONDEMNED ONE
BLIGHTED PROPERTY AS UNSAFE IN
2011.
NOW IT'S GOING THROUGH THE LEGAL
PROCESS FOR DEMOLITON, NEARLY
SIX YEARS LATER.
AROUND A CORNER, ANOTHER
ABANDONED BUILIDNG SEEMS PERFECT
FOR A HORROR MOVIE SET.
BUT THIS IS A REAL COMMUINITY.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER GWEN BROWN
SAYS INDIFFERENCE SENDS A
POWERFUL MESSAGE.
>> IF YOU ARE IN A COMMUNITY
WHERE IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE
ANYONE CARES ABOUT YOU, IT
DOESN'T FEEL LIKE PEOPLE CARE
ABOUT THE COMMUNITY THAT
, CONTRIBUTES TO THE CRIME
PROBLEM.
JAYNE: THE CITY'S ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT MAP OF THE AREA IS
STARK.
VIRTUALLY NOTHING IN THE WORKS,
DESPITE ITS DESIGNATION AS A
ZONE OFFERING THE MOST
INCENTIVES.
>> THERE'S SPACE OVER THERE.
IT'S A LOT OF WORK IN CONVINCING
BUSINESSES TO RELOCATE THERE
REQUIRES NOT ONLY INCENTIVES BUT
A LOT OF HANDHOLDING.
JAYNE: THERE IS SOME PRIVATE
INVESTMENT.
SCOTT PLANK, THE BROTHER OF
UNDER ARMOUR CEO KEVIN PLANK,
LED THE DONATION OF MORE THAN $2
MILLION FOR A RENOVATION
PROJECT OF THE WESTERN DISTRICT
POLICE STATION.
>> IT'S SAD TO HAVE A
PHILANTHROPIST COME TO MY
COMMUNITY AND HE FEELS LIKE THE
BEST THING HE CAN DO IS PUT A
COUPLE MILLION BUCKS IN THE
POLICE STATION WHEN YOU SEE ALL
THIS OTHER DYNAMIC GOING AROUND
HIM.
JAYNE: THE CITY'S SPENDING
PRIORITIES MAY BE MISMATCHED
AGAINST THE COMMUNITY'S NEEDS.
SINCE 1998, SPENDING ON POLICING
IN BALTIMORE HAS SOARED, UP 48%
ADJUSTING FOR INFLATION, WHILE
THE CITY'S COMMITMENT TO
EDUCATION IS DOWN 8% AND HEALTH
DOWN 30%, ALSO ADJUSTING FOR
INFLATION.
THIS YEAR, CITY TAXPAYERS ARE
SPENDING $481 MILLION ON
POLICING, MORE THAN EDUCATION,
$265 MILLION, AND HEALTH, $137
MILLION, COMBINED.
>> AS FAR AS WHAT'S HAPPENING IN
THIS AREA, THERE HASN'T BEEN A
CHANGE WITH ANYTHING.
CHILDREN THAT'S GROWING UP, AS
THEY SEE THE ADULTS AND THAT'S
ALL IT'S EVER GOING TO BE,
VIOLENCE.
JAYNE: I LOOK -- SPOKE TO A MAN
WHO LIVES HERE IN THIS COMMUNITY
NOT ON CAMERA.

Video: North Calhoun Street in west Baltimore a microcosm of city's problems

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