Essex residents press officials on carjackings, youth crime, police shortages

Residents pressed Baltimore County officials Tuesday night at CCBC Essex over carjackings, juvenile repeat offending and slow police response times, including one complaint that officers took about 20 minutes to answer after a knife was pulled. The meeting in the Administration Building Lecture Hall ran from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and put Police Chief Robert McCullough and State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger in front of an audience that wanted faster, more visible protection.

The Essex town hall was part of a county series announced July 9 that also included a June 29 session in Towson and a July 22 meeting scheduled for Randallstown. Maryland Department of Juvenile Services officials Lisa Garry and Kara Aanenson joined the panel, and County Executive Kathy Klausmeier and county council members were expected to offer welcoming remarks.

Residents said the problem was not just the number of crimes but the sense that some young offenders keep cycling back through the system. That frustration sharpened after Baltimore County police announced the arrest of two 13-year-old suspects in two armed carjackings over the weekend before the Essex meeting. The county had already heard similar concerns in Towson, where residents at the June 29 town hall raised youth crime, loitering, speeding and aggressive driving after the early-June killing of Towson University student Nasir Majied near Towson Circle.

At that earlier Towson session, DJS Secretary Betsy Fox Tolentino said carjackings were down 75 percent and handguns were down 40 percent since last year, even as Council Chair Mike Ertel said he did not think Towson was less safe than it had been. Residents wanted quicker police arrival and consequences for repeat juvenile offenders, while county leaders pointed to broader trends and the limits of the system.

In April, the police union said the department had 162 sworn vacancies and argued the real shortfall was 341 when academy recruits were excluded. The department said recruits in the academy count as personnel and that it was 162 personnel short at the time. County crime data now sits on a public dashboard that uses NIBRS reports and is updated monthly beginning Jan. 1, 2021, while the police strategic plan for 2026-2030 sets goals to reduce crime, improve traffic safety and ensure readiness for critical incidents.