Rebuilding trust in Baltimore starts with owning past wrongs

By Tavon N. Thomasson 
AFRO Intern

On July 11, the Pennsylvania Avenue Main Street headquarters in West Baltimore served not only as the site of an interactive exhibit on public safety but also as a space for open conversations regarding the long-standing mistrust between Baltimoreans and law enforcement.

The Community of Practice event, organized by the Mayor’s Office of Innovation and the Office of Equity and Civil Rights, enticed many residents and community leaders to explore an exhibit packed with data about the current state of police staffing and the community’s relationship with local law enforcement. 

While the data sparked important conversations throughout the day, the evening panel added further depth, reminding everyone in attendance why the conversation must continue beyond one day. 

“There is still no trust in the police. There’s still no relationship between the community and the police. And the fuse is real short—especially around here,” said Ray C. Kelly, executive director of the Citizens Policing Project, during the panel. 

Kelly believes the short fuse stems from years of unfulfilled promises by the police department and city officials, particularly for certain blighted Baltimore neighborhoods that have seen little investment despite repeated commitments. 

“There’s been 100 promises on what they are going to do around here, but anyone that’s been here on a daily basis, it’s just chatter to us,” said Kelly during the panel. “If you go to Penn-North today, it looks exactly the same—despite the whole world seeing it. Now the whole world is seeing it again, and I’m sure the whole world is thinking, ‘Well, they ain’t done nothing around here in 10 years. What happened to all this development?’”

Joni Holifield, founder of HeartSmiles and a member of the evening panel, believes real progress will start once power is given to those who know Baltimore’s struggles firsthand.

“It’s really going to be on the people who actually live here, who are invested here and might not have the academic knowledge, but they the fabric, they have the relationship with the community,” said Holifield during the panel. “We really just need to find clear pathways for those types of people to rise up and be able to have real power, not just a seat at the table.”

In an interview after the panel, Terrance Smith, Baltimore’s chief innovation officer, believes  meaningful progress won’t come from more reports or outreach efforts alone. In his view, rebuilding trust requires city institutions to take ownership for the “trust violations that have occurred.”

Smith believes the community hasn’t given up on trusting city officials, they just need a reason to. Still, he admitted that restoring that trust won’t happen overnight. For some, it may take longer to believe in institutions again.

“It’s going to take more work for the people who are cynics of the government,” Smith said. “People become cynics because something has happened to them and they have to relive it every time they see this organization… . But that doesn’t mean they can’t get to a healthy place of trust.”

The road to earning back trust from cynics may be steep, but Smith believes it’s still open if approached with care and purpose. That sentiment is also true for the broader community.

“We have to do a lot of listening. We have to do a lot of acting. 
And I think that that’s the pathway forward,” said Smith. “I think the question then becomes: Will we become the type of organization needed to actually do that?”