At a City Council Public Safety Committee hearing yesterday, Councilman Mark Conway put Baltimore's top agencies on notice, demanding a written, citywide plan within 60 days to dismantle the city's open-air drug markets. Residents and council members described relentless street-level dealing and repeated overdoses that, they said, have left neighborhoods feeling unsafe and exhausted.
Conway, who chairs the public safety committee, told officials he has been asking for a comprehensive strategy "for just under a year, 364 days to be exact," and directed the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, the Baltimore Police Department, the Fire Department, and the City Health Department to submit a written plan of action within 60 days. As reported by WMAR2 News, Conway said the plan should clearly spell out specific tactics and measurable outcomes.
What Conway Asked For
Police leaders told the committee they are using a tiered, intelligence-led strategy that focuses on going after suppliers and organized trafficking, while patrol and district officers are deployed to deal with persistent corners. According to CBS News Baltimore, Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said his department "has a plan" but cautioned that "there are so many open-air drug markets" that they cannot be eliminated overnight.
Mayor Warns Against Public Playbook
Mayor Brandon Scott pushed back on the call for a publicly posted enforcement playbook, telling WBAL that laying out tactics in detail would undermine investigations and make it easier for dealers to dodge police. As WBAL reported, Scott also stressed that curbing overdoses requires harm-reduction investments, recovery programs, and federal partnerships in addition to traditional enforcement.
Enforcement Versus Harm Reduction
The back-and-forth highlighted a growing split at City Hall over how to handle entrenched drug "shops" that operate in the open. Some corners, officials suggested, may call for aggressive takedowns, while others might be better served by sustained social-service responses. As reported by The Baltimore Banner, the hearing turned tense at points as council members pressed for a clear, public plan that spells out when enforcement should lead and when services should follow.
Neighbors Urge Results
Several residents who testified linked the demand for a formal plan to recent mass-overdose events, including a spike in overdoses in Penn North that officials say led to closer scrutiny of the response. According to CBS News Baltimore, Conway said the 60-day deadline is intended to push agencies beyond isolated efforts and into a coordinated strategy that can be tracked and judged.
Next Steps
The administration now has the clock running on paper, and the council has signaled it will be watching closely. Conway said he expects concrete actions and clear metrics when the plan comes back to the committee. As WMAR2 notes, the short timeline sets up the next oversight showdown and a test of whether enforcement and public-health teams can present a unified way forward.
