Baltimore's Top Cop Blames Stolen Prescription Drugs For Violence

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Police Commissioner Anthony Batts (pictured, second from left) has figured out why violence has spiked in Baltimore.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Baltimore’s top cop told reporters, “There’s enough narcotics on the streets of Baltimore to keep it intoxicated for a year.” (As you watch the video, notice the side-eye from Martin as he finishes the comment.)

He continued:

“That amount of drugs has thrown off the balance on the streets of Baltimore. We’re seeing the repercussions of these crimes throughout the community. Individuals are getting high to a greater degree and at a greater pace than any time before. Criminals are selling stolen drugs. There are turf wars happening, which are leading to violence and shootings in our city.”

Later during the presser, Batts told reporters he is asking for “more federal prosecutors and more federal agents to move to the City of Baltimore to assist us in this battle against the violence.”

On Thursday, Roland Martin told viewers nationwide on TV One’s flagship morning program NewsOne Now that he is not buying any of that “absolute BS.”

Washington Post Associate Editor David Swerdlick told Martin that Police Commissioner Batts is “in over his head.”

Swerdlick continued, “He is basically saying that the riots, which the police couldn’t get a handle on, led to a CVS being burned … prescription drugs on the street, drugs changing hand, violence, crime, etc.”

“Whether or not there’s any accuracy with that whatsoever, Chief Batts seems in over his head,” Swerdlick continued. “He (Batts) may be an excellent law enforcement officer, but he does not know how to handle bringing this to the public’s attention, handle taking accountability for the fact that he is chief of police in a city that has seen a spike in violence, and people can’t get a handle on why.”

Later during the deconstruction of Batts’ comments, Martin said, “He looks stupid saying, ‘Hey President Obama, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, I need y’all to send me some money, some help because my MF, slow, trifling police department can’t do the work.’”

Watch Roland Martin and the NewsOne Now panel – featuring former federal prosecutor Glenn Ivey, Danielle Belton, Associate Editor of The Root, Candice Tolliver Burns, Principal with theGROUP Consulting Firm, and David Swerdlick, Washington Post Assistant Editor – discuss Police Commissioner Batts’ comments on the increase in violence in Baltimore in the video clip above.