WJZ Exclusive: Mayor Brandon Scott Opens Up About Confronting Baltimore’s Struggles

In a WJZ exclusive, anchor Vic Carter is granted unprecedented entree to Mayor Brandon Scott. In one-on-one interviews, Vic talks with the politician astir the information of Baltimore City, and what needs to beryllium done to hole it.

Listening to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, it becomes abundantly wide that helium is simply a young, energetic, enthusiastic and motivated nationalist servant who governs from the heart. A bosom that has a emotion for a metropolis that helium has known each of his life. A metropolis that helium knows tin beryllium better.

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Unfortunately, everything is not large successful Baltimore. Far excessively often we are seeing scenes of the politician successful the mediate of the night, showing up astatine transgression scenes wherever determination are aggregate victims.

It has go increasingly frustrating for him and constabulary command. So helium clocks into enactment each day, each day, tackling immoderate of the city’s fiercest problems.

The 37-year-old has thing to lose. That’s wherefore helium runs his metropolis with the velocity and vigor of an Olympic sprinter. He talked to america exclusively implicit respective days.

“A mates of weeks agone the commissioner called maine astir 2 successful the greeting and helium said, ‘It sounds similar you are wide awake'” Scott said. “I said, ‘Actually, I conscionable laid down.’ I americium consistently thinking, What tin I improve? What tin I do?”

Scott is decidedly antithetic from his predecessors, having grown up successful Northwest Baltimore and seeing immoderate of its challenges archetypal hand. And he’s reminded of that by the radical who saw him alteration from a lad to a man.

“It’s different, being a teenage Black kid erstwhile that worldly is happening,” Scott said. “It’s antithetic erstwhile you had that weapon successful your face, erstwhile you had to duck the bullets, erstwhile you mislaid friends, radical that were your age, passim that.”

He said these experiences successful the metropolis are what separates him from its erstwhile mayors.

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“That understanding, immoderate of that pain, that suffering separates maine from the folks earlier me,” Scott said. “Because I cognize that I don’t privation different young radical to acquisition what I tin consciousness my bosom each night.”

Many radical look astatine transgression successful cities similar Baltimore and say, “Why can’t they hole it?”

For acold excessively long, the sole solution has been policing, the politician said.

“We cognize what doesn’t work. We cognize the years erstwhile they went retired and arrested anybody who looked similar you and I, who was breathing portion Black, who was extracurricular was arrested for anything. That didn’t marque the metropolis safer. We didn’t go a safer city.”

Scott said treating substance maltreatment and behavioral health, providing amended acquisition opportunities, and repairing neighborhoods indispensable beryllium portion of the solution.

He besides noted the occupation of weapon unit does not commencement and extremity Baltimore, citing statistic that 60% of the firearms recovered by Baltimore constabulary came from retired of state. When you see Maryland jurisdictions extracurricular the city, the fig is 84%.

Young Baltimoreans cognize the metropolis has issues, but they besides cognize the metropolis is much than that, the politician said. Scott shares his ain communicative with young people, telling them helium knows what it’s similar to beryllium counted out.

“I’ll archer them that radical told maine that I wouldn’t beryllium capable to spell to assemblage and past that I wouldn’t beryllium capable to beryllium elected. That I should ne'er tally for mayor, due to the fact that radical from my vicinity wherever I grew up conscionable could not execute that. I should settee for being capable to conscionable person a moving job, right? And I archer them, look wherever I americium now.”

When Scott took power of the metropolis helium was instantly saddled with handling the COVID-19 crisis, demonstrations connected the streets for Black Lives Matter, and the insurmountable occupation of crime. They are each issues that person not gone away, but helium believes that if they are to beryllium fixed, it is up to him.

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