Ben Conarck

With limited resources, Baltimore Police struggle to aid mentally ill people The Crisis Response Team was created nearly a decade ago, prompted in part by the federal investigation into the city’s police department following the 2015 in-custody death of Freddie Gray.

With limited resources, Baltimore Police struggle to aid mentally ill people

With limited resources, Baltimore Police struggle to aid mentally ill people The Crisis Response Team was created nearly a decade ago, prompted in part by the federal investigation into the city’s police department following the 2015 in-custody death of Freddie Gray.

By @conarck.bsky.social: With limited resources, Baltimore Police struggle to aid mentally ill people. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

University of Maryland Police officer accused of sexual misconduct with student has powers stripped by state An internal investigation by the University of Maryland Police Department found that Meadows met the College Park student on a social media website known as “FET: Kinky BDSM Dating.”

UMD officer accused of sexual misconduct with student loses police powers, @conarck.bsky.social and @elliew0lfe.bsky.social report. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Washington County declares its support for ICE detention facility outside Hagerstown Washington County commissioners declared support for the conversion of a sprawling warehouse outside Hagerstown into a proposed federal immigration detention facility on Tuesday.

Washington County declares support for proposed ICE detention facility near Hagerstown

Washington County declares its support for ICE detention facility outside Hagerstown Washington County commissioners declared support for the conversion of a sprawling warehouse outside Hagerstown into a proposed federal immigration detention facility on Tuesday.

Breaking: In Western Maryland, Washington Co. commissioners declared their support for the conversion of a sprawling warehouse into an ICE detention facility, in spite of protests inside/outside the hearing room and opposition from the state's two U.S. senators. www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

Few people irritate me as much as the Temu John Prine guy on Instagram

Nearly 1 in 4 people killed by Maryland police was in mental health crisis, AG finds Since 2021, the Maryland Office of the Attorney General has reviewed 86 cases in which someone was killed by police — and 20 of those cases involved mental health crises, according to a report released...

Nearly 1 in 4 people killed by Maryland police was in mental health crisis, AG finds

Nearly 1 in 4 people killed by Maryland police was in mental health crisis, AG finds Since 2021, the Maryland Office of the Attorney General has reviewed 86 cases in which someone was killed by police — and 20 of those cases involved mental health crises, according to a report release...

New: Since 2021, the Maryland Office of the Attorney General has reviewed 86 cases in which someone was killed by police or died during a police response — and 20 of those cases involved mental health crises, according to a report released Thursday. www.thebanner.com/community/cr...

Federal oversight expected to scale back after Baltimore stabilizes police staffing The Baltimore Police Department got a preliminary green light from the judge overseeing its federally mandated reforms that it's on track to shed mandates for recruitment/hiring and technology.

New: Baltimore Police are on track to scale back more federal oversight after a judge recognized improvements to the hiring/retention processes and a transformation of the agency's technical capabilities (records management, body cams and early-intervention systems) www.thebanner.com/community/cr...

Update: @oagmaryland.bsky.social Anthony Brown's office has weighed in, and appears to be keeping its cards close to its vest:

Washington County says feds’ plan for immigration detention near Hagerstown cannot be stopped The federal government moved quickly over the last month to establish a foothold in Maryland, notifying Washington County officials of its intentions just days before inking the deed giving it full ow...

New: Washington Co. officials say there is nothing they can do to stop the federal government from building a sprawling immigration detention facility in Western Maryland. It could provide ICE with a long-desired foothold in the region to surge the area w/ arrests. www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

Feds purchase warehouse near Hagerstown, fueling talk of detention center The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has inked a deal to purchase a warehouse just outside Hagerstown for $102.4 million.

Feds purchase warehouse near Hagerstown, fueling talk of immigration detention center

Feds purchase warehouse near Hagerstown, fueling talk of detention center The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has inked a deal to purchase a warehouse just outside Hagerstown for $102.4 million.

News: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has inked a deal to purchase a warehouse just outside Hagerstown for $102.4 million, fueling concerns of its potential conversion into an immigration detention facility. For @thebaltimorebanner.com
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

Corrections officials tell me the victim was serving a five-year sentence for a felony firearm possession charge, with two additional years for offenses committed while in prison. He had been incarcerated since June 2022.

Spokesperson for @govwesmoore.bsky.social has weighed in.

Another Maryland prisoner is killed as homicide surge continues A prisoner was killed inside the Jessup Correctional Institution on Monday, representing the third prison homicide this month, state officials said.

Something's going on in Maryland's prisons. As @conarck.bsky.social continues to chronicle, last year had the highest prison killings in a decade (13) and there's been 3 more already this month alone www.thebanner.com/community/cr...

Another Maryland prisoner is killed as homicide surge continues A prisoner was killed inside the Jessup Correctional Institution on Monday, representing the third prison homicide this month, state officials said.

New: Last night, a 33-year-old named Joseph Harrell was killed in front of the library at Jessup Correctional Institution. It was the third prison homicide in Maryland just this month, putting the state on pace to exceed last year's record of 13 prison homicides. www.thebanner.com/community/cr...

We spoke to the relative of a detainee seen in the video, the former field office director for the facility, advocates and lawmakers for this story. This is the kind of coverage you will only read @thebaltimorebanner.com

Gratitude as always for our statehouse reporter @pwoodreporter.bsky.social for helping the Banner stay on top of this news.

Price hike for Baltimore jail plans: Now estimated at $1.2 billion As Maryland’s budget outlook worsens, state officials are hedging on the controversial Baltimore jail project.

The @thebaltimorebanner.com previewed this possibility earlier in the month: www.thebanner.com/community/cr...

No money for budget-busting Baltimore jail in Gov. Moore’s spending plan The proposed detention facility, which is set to be located in the city’s downtown jail complex, had been slated to receive $125 million.

New: After pushback from reformers and the CO’s union, Maryland’s controversial plan to build a $1.2 billion “therapeutic” jail in downtown Baltimore appears to have hit a major snag. @govwesmoore.bsky.social has pulled it from his proposed budget.
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...

No money for budget-busting Baltimore jail in Gov. Moore’s spending plan The proposed detention facility, which is set to be located in the city’s downtown jail complex, had been slated to receive $125 million.

One project that's NOT funded in Maryland Gov. Wes Moore's budget is a proposed "therapeutic" jail for Baltimore that's been kicking around since Gov. Larry Hogan's time. The cost keeps increasing, and the project is being put on pause.

by @conarck.bsky.social:

www.thebanner.com/community/cr...

Montgomery County leaders try to strengthen their hand against ICE Montgomery County Council members introduced two bills Tuesday to curb how ICE conducts detentions and deportations within the county’s borders.

A Montgomery County councilmember watched a teenage boy detained by ICE. Wearing pajamas in the cold, the boy showed ICE agents proof of his citizenship, to no avail, she said. County officials want to prevent this, so they're proposing more restrictions on ICE: www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

Harford County sheriff showed ‘deliberate indifference’ to jail suicides, lawsuit says A coalition of civil rights groups is suing the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, claiming that the agency failed to properly assess jail detainees’ suicide risk and aggravated their mental health cond...

NEW: Two years after a @thebaltimorebanner.com investigation into an abnormally high suicide rate and questionable practices at the Harford County Detention Center, Maryland chapters of the ACLU/NAACP are suing the sheriff, citing extensively from our reporting: www.thebanner.com/community/cr...

Trump's DHS has shot 11 people during immigration enforcement operations since September The ICE and Border Patrol shootings show a pattern that policing experts say is alarming: officers firing into cars and injuring and killing drivers.

NEW: Trump’s DHS forces have shot 11 people since September. NBC News examined every case, revealing a pattern that policing experts called alarming: officers firing into cars, injuring and killing drivers.

Maryland sheriff wants to keep working with ICE, even if state lawmakers ban it Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins plans to keep working with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even in light of the killing of an American citizen by an ICE agent.

NEW: Chuck Jenkins, arguably Maryland's most powerful sheriff, said today he wants to keep working with ICE — regardless of national protests and even if Maryland lawmakers outlaw cooperation agreements (called 287g program) in the state. More in @thebaltimorebanner.com:

Another man killed at Maryland’s deadliest prison Maryland State Police have launched an investigation following a reported killing at North Branch Correctional Institution in Allegany County.

Prisoner homicides hit a modern record high last year with 13. There's already been one so far in 2026, at the state's deadliest prison, a "hypermax" facility in Cumberland.
by @invisibae.bsky.social www.thebanner.com/community/cr...

Price hike for Baltimore jail plans: Now estimated at $1.2 billion As Maryland’s budget outlook worsens, state officials are hedging on the controversial Baltimore jail project.

Plans for a historically expensive jail in Baltimore just got even more costly: $1.2 billion, @conarck.bsky.social reports. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Baltimore’s new $1 billion jail will be most expensive state-funded project in history The proposed 854-bed facility will be a hybrid jail, hospital and mental health and substance use treatment facility for people facing criminal charges.

Plans for a historically expensive jail in downtown Baltimore have gotten costlier, with the price tag up to $1.2B. Meanwhile, a state budget crunch has made the project's future less certain. Justice reform advocates/CO's union sense an opportunity to derail it. www.thebanner.com/community/cr...

Price hike for Baltimore jail plans: Now estimated at $1.2 billion As Maryland’s budget outlook worsens, state officials are hedging on the controversial Baltimore jail project.

Plans for a historically expensive jail in Baltimore just got even more costly: $1.2 billion