Baltimore Police Officers Required to Be on 12-Hour Shifts as Violence Increases

Baltimore’s police commissioner is now requiring all officers to be on 12-hour shifts as violence increases in the city.

The police department announced the plan after the city experienced episodes of violence that started Monday evening and continued over into Tuesday, leaving six dead and a total of 12 people shot, WJZ reported.

“Quite frankly it pisses off the community, it angers us, it frustrates us,” Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said of the violence in Baltimore.

A 28-year-old man who died during a drug dispute, a 37-year-old woman murdered in a bullying incident, and a man and a woman in their twenties killed in a quadruple shooting were among the victims.

The commissioner said the new requirement would be in effect through the weekend at a minimum, and patrol officers, detectives, and administrative officers are all required to patrol the streets for 12-hour shifts effective immediately.

He added that he believes the violence stems from drugs, guns, and gangs.

Baltimore’s increasing murder rate has posed a problem for the city.

The Baltimore Sun reported that “one out of every 2,000 [Baltimore] residents was killed in 2016,” a total of 318 people. The paper added that the year before, in 2015, the city recorded 344 homicides in the city’s deadliest year on record.

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh asked the FBI for help in combating the city’s murder problem as the city faced an officer shortage resulting from budget cuts and policy changes.