When it comes to arrests, ‘never mind’ isn’t good enough

A recent story by Danny Jacobs, one of our legal reporters, reported on the dramatic rise in the number of drug arrests in Baltimore, as well as the rest of Maryland, from the 1980s on.

In 2003 — the last year the researchers looked at — Baltimore had nearly 11,300 drug arrests for every 100,000 residents, according to the story. That makes us the worst of the 43 studied American cities.

But, that’s not why I’m writing this. The story already made that point clear. No, it was something else that made me do a double-take:

11.9% — the approximate percentage of 2003 Baltimore drug arrests that actually led to filed charges. About 7.9% led to prosecutions.

This terrifies me.

I see those numbers and can’t help but wonder how the city and state could ever justify so many arrests that lead absolutely nowhere. How many people are walking around with the stigma of an arrest, but not even a trial to clear their name? A dropped charge due to “lack of evidence” just doesn’t have the same effect in my mind. Neither does an arrest followed by a “Never mind — you can head on home.”

The story does go on to quote a city spokesman on improvements to the system over the past several years, including an increase in treatment. Still, I don’t believe any improvements now or in the future could fix the anger of someone with an arrest that went nowhere. I know it wouldn’t for me.

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