104 Arrested In Baltimore Sweep Targeting Guns, Violent Crime

BALTIMORE, MD — Leaders from Baltimore joined Gov. Larry Hogan at a Friday news conference to tout more than 100 arrests made in recent weeks in the area.

The arrests made between Jan. 31 and Feb. 11 as part of Operation Washout II, an initiative between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Marshal's Service said Friday.

“Through these joint efforts we’ve made 14 arrests for homicide or attempted homicide, 15 arrests for robbery and 28 arrests for firearm-related offenses,” Hogan said. “Over 200 open warrants were closed during the course of the operation.”

Some warrants were closed without arrests because suspects had already been arrested on other charges, Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said this type of coordination between multiple levels of law enforcement sends the message that they are unified in the mission to reduce crime.

“It is necessary to reduce violent crime in Baltimore and around our state,” said Scott at the news conference. “Operations like ‘Washout’ are exactly what I mean when I say we will continue to focus on the most violent offenders and we will do that together.”

Officials did not know how many people arrested during the operation were repeat violent offenders.

Arrests are not enough to combat crime, Hogan said. He has pushed for two new crime bills — one which would toughen penalties for those who repeatedly commit crimes with firearms and another which would publicize sentencing data about people convicted of violent crimes.

“We also need to work together to make sure that the city has the tools to prosecute more and sentence more of the most violent criminals to get them off the streets,” said Hogan.

Operations like "Washout" are intended to act as a deterrent not only in the sense that people accused of crimes are arrested, but also to prevent other people from committing crimes, the Baltimore Police commissioner said.

"The goal is to make sure we put out the correct message, and the hope is other would-be offenders would not offend," said Harrison at the news conference.