Friday, May 15, 2009

It's gonna be a busy weekend!

It's Friday again in Baltimore (happens every week!). Hopefully we'll survive, but there are gonna be a lot of issues for our harried police force to deal with, in addition to Preakness Day itself.

Buz noticed that 2 of Peter Hermann's blogs recently got a huge number of comments, compared to other postings he has made. Both concerned attacks on people which were basically unprovoked in highly heretofore nice areas of downtown. First the Inner Harbor, then Mount Vernon, around that fancy bottle club which rents space in the first floor area of the Belvedere Hotel. So, apparently, when the gendarmes beefed up their presence around the harbor (and earlier than that the 'entertainment' district), our young people outflanked them at the Belvedere area.
  • So, tonite the Preakness parade will kick off and go along Pratt Street and end at Market Place--just where Iguana Cantina will be having its weekend party for the college folks going back home soon.
  • And, since the Ultra Lounge at the Belvedere had its Circuit Court appeal over the revocation of its liquor license, and the judge hasn't ruled yet on whether their due process "rights" were violated (who cares about responsibilities?), my guess is the club will be going as strong as ever to make as much moolah (a technical term) as they can before the hammer comes down. So, kids of all ages: come on down and get hammered! This offer is good both on Saturday and Sunday. Of course, if the judge rules against them, they could probably stay open while it goes to the court of Special Appeals [wouldn't want their rights to be violated, would we?].  Depends on how much money they are willing to pay their fancy, schmancy lawyer--of course paying the attorney is sort of a fine in itself.
  • And, of course, there is the Preakness itself: a chance of a lifetime, for one to practice open drunkenness, misogynist behavior to the max, risk behavior, and throwing beer cans (oh, they hurt!) at people you may or may not know. Oops, no beer cans this year, guys, unless ya can somehow smuggle them in. Oh, and you can get hammered for only $1 a beer between 8 and 11 am. Betcha, 28-1, that still makes it easy to get drunk by noon. Heh heh. (Not this boy, though).
  • Oh, and back to Market Place, where Power Plant Live is having a Preakness substitution event, where the booze will be cheap on Saturday all day (huh; nobody complains when they don't let you bring your coolers in here; like, why not?)
  • And the good citizens of Mount Washington are kinda worried that some young drinkers won't get the word, come up to the gate, get refused entrance because of their coolers full of beer, and will decide to tailgate somewhere in the neighborhood. 
Anyway, we hope the police department will have the elite corps of Violent Crime Impact Division put on uniforms, cut their hair, and be out there maintaining order instead of doing street rips and jump-outs; maybe we'll have a bit more peaceful weekend. Here's hoping Laura Vozella will wear her edgiest outfit and go out on the infield and see what's going on and report from the eye of the storm--which is supposed to be much more peaceful this year. We'll see.

13 comments:

buzoncrime said...

Yikes! As I was posting this blog, a battle broke out in Baltimore's Inner Harbor along Pratt Street between the Pratt St. pavilion and the World Trade Center. About 20 youths were involved according to a brief news report.
Five were arrested.
It's too bad the Sun's staff has been cut so.........we'd like to get a better picture about what happened. We'd really like to know who exactly these young people are. What motivates them to come down to the harbor and get into fights? and most of all: Why?

ppatin said...

I didn't go to the Preakness, but I heard the infield was a much better place this year. Supposedly it still wasn't a "family-friendly" event, however the really outrageous behavior that had gotten so much worse in the past few years (running of the porta pots, the throwing of beer cans, etc etc) wasn't present.

buzoncrime said...

Yes, Pascal, er, PP---It was better this year because it was a more controlled environment. There isn't (almost) a bar in Baltimore that will allow you to bring your own booze in by the cooler and/or come in totally smashed. Their insurance company wouldn't permit it, and their business is to make money, not to hire a lot of security to somehow control this anything goes show which was going on every year.

Apparently, that stupid "bottle club", Ultra Lounge over at the Belvedere, allows you to bring booze in--that's an exception, and that license should not be allowed.
Hopefully, the judge will soon rule that the liquor board exercised due process and render their license revoked.

ppatin said...

Buz:

Out of curiosity, how did you learn my first name?

buzoncrime said...

PP---Buz's far-flung intelligence network of the Roland Park Security Consulting Service have you under constant surveillance! And we are assisted by the Maryland State Police who, in trying to be balanced and fair, have switched from monitoring death penalty opponents to monitoring death penalty advocates.

Would you like me to reveal the complicated, complex methodology I used on this public forum, or would you like to email me directly @ jerry@buzoncrime.com?

buzoncrime said...

Of course, I was just joking in the previous comment!

ppatin said...

Heh, that's what I figured. It's not like I try to hide who I am, I was just curious.

buzoncrime said...

Actually, you posted your full name on another website, perhaps Peter Hermann's blog, I can't remember, but I did google it and there you were.

And how are things in Fells Point?

I took a relocation client down there the other day, and we looked at places in the 400 blk. S. Wolfe Street and a studio in Henderson's Wharf.

John said...

Buz is powerful and knows all.

Word on the street, overtime returns June 1 at bars. Details, undetermined at this time.

The amount of resources being committed to the Inner Harbor to combat the flood of hoodlum youth is astounding. Officers from every district are detailed down there Fri-Sun in addition to the Inner Harbor Task force.

buzoncrime said...

John---Buz wishes he were as powerful and all-knowing as he sometimes claims. And sometimes in the earliest stages of dementia, I forget some things I once knew for sure!

I do know a lot of people around town, though.

Wow, that's interesting news about the bar cops. I was just thinking the other day when I read Peter Hermann's piece on cruising around with the councilman: he ended with saying they got a message that Market Place is out of control. I was thinking: maybe John's right, despite my best instincts, maybe we need cops around particular bars. See, John, sometimes great minds think somewhat alike! {I do think some additional controls need to be placed on this secondary, though}.

Andymon said...

Bealefeld will be gone by the end of the summer if this shit continues. It is happening in Philadelphia too, in even larger numbers (crowdwise, not # of incidents I don't think).

buzoncrime said...

Andy---I think this stuff at the Inner Harbor will dry up in the short term, say the rest of this month, til 4th of July. Then, if things stay reasonably "under control", officers will slowly be withdrawn back to their districts so the rest of us have some protection too. Perhaps these other clubs in the downtown area, including the Belvedere will get more attention too.

Though the tenure of most big-city police chiefs is usually around 3 years to 5 years at most, I don't think Bealefeld is going anywhere soon. He is keeping the druggies from killing each other (and, hopefully, the rest of us), which is the policy priority of the city. Of course, that clashes with the policy priority of keeping the Inner Harbor area and entertainment areas safe, but he is trying to do both.

By the way, have any of you been down to the harbor on the 4th of July last couple of years, since the gangs did their thing about 3 years ago. The beautiful woman who cuts my hair told me she went there with her kids last year and it was wall to wall cops, some with helmets on, and the full mounted unit was there.

Andymon said...

I quit doing the Fourth of July thing years ago. I'd like to be home in case one of my idiot neighbors sets my roof on fire with illegal fireworks (or to chortle in my glee if they blow their hands up real good).