Ben Conarck
@conarck.bsky.social
reporting on prisons, jails and police for The Baltimore Banner • tips to bconarck @thebaltimorebanner.com
Reposted by Ben Conarck
Maryland prison killings rise to decade high amid staffing shortage
Maryland prison killings rise to decade high amid staffing shortage
Thirteen incarcerated people have been killed by other prisoners this year, state officials said, marking the highest annual total in at least a decade.
buff.ly
December 29, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Maryland prison killings rise to decade high amid staffing shortage
NEW: Maryland’s prison system is becoming increasingly deadly, with the highest homicide rate in recent history despite a shrinking population of incarcerated people. Experts point to staff shortages and an infusion of contraband drugs. Read more:
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Maryland prison killings rise to decade high amid staffing shortage
Thirteen incarcerated people have been killed by other prisoners this year, state officials said, marking the highest annual total in at least a decade.
www.thebanner.com
December 29, 2025 at 8:43 PM
NEW: Maryland’s prison system is becoming increasingly deadly, with the highest homicide rate in recent history despite a shrinking population of incarcerated people. Experts point to staff shortages and an infusion of contraband drugs. Read more:
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Reposted by Ben Conarck
December 29, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Reposted by Ben Conarck
Absolutely incredible news in Baltimore, reported out by @conarck.bsky.social, Greg Morton and Sahana Jayaraman in @thebaltimorebanner.com —
Analysis: Baltimore homicides declined furthest, fastest in the country, could reach a 48-year low
Baltimore is on track to end 2025 with its lowest homicide total in 48 years, with fewer than 150 killings expected, marking a significant decline since 2022.
www.thebanner.com
December 29, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Absolutely incredible news in Baltimore, reported out by @conarck.bsky.social, Greg Morton and Sahana Jayaraman in @thebaltimorebanner.com —
An historic drop in gun violence in Baltimore is drawing the nation’s attention. A remarkable success story. What’s behind it?
For @thebaltimorebanner.com
For @thebaltimorebanner.com
NEW:
Baltimore is on track to finish 2025 with its fewest homicides in about 50 years. Before Two-thirds of city residents were even born.
Baltimore homicides have further and faster than anywhere in the nation since 2018.
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Baltimore is on track to finish 2025 with its fewest homicides in about 50 years. Before Two-thirds of city residents were even born.
Baltimore homicides have further and faster than anywhere in the nation since 2018.
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Analysis: Baltimore homicides declined furthest, fastest in the country, could reach a 48-year low
Baltimore is on track to end 2025 with its lowest homicide total in 48 years, with fewer than 150 killings expected, marking a significant decline since 2022.
www.thebanner.com
December 29, 2025 at 3:04 PM
An historic drop in gun violence in Baltimore is drawing the nation’s attention. A remarkable success story. What’s behind it?
For @thebaltimorebanner.com
For @thebaltimorebanner.com
Reposted by Ben Conarck
Baltimore Police have a ‘pattern’ of using vehicles to injure suspects, lawsuit alleges
Baltimore Police frequently use their vehicles as weapons, lawsuit alleges
Baltimore Police have long used department vehicles to inflict serious injuries on suspects, a recently filed lawsuit alleges.
buff.ly
December 26, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Baltimore Police have a ‘pattern’ of using vehicles to injure suspects, lawsuit alleges
Baltimore Police have shown a "pattern and practice" of using their vehicles as weapons, according to a complaint filed in federal court recently by a young man who was run over when he was 16 years old and fleeing from officers responding to a reported carjacking.
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Baltimore Police frequently use their vehicles as weapons, lawsuit alleges
Baltimore Police have long used department vehicles to inflict serious injuries on suspects, a recently filed lawsuit alleges.
www.thebanner.com
December 26, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Baltimore Police have shown a "pattern and practice" of using their vehicles as weapons, according to a complaint filed in federal court recently by a young man who was run over when he was 16 years old and fleeing from officers responding to a reported carjacking.
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
During an immigration crackdown in Maryland this fall, two out of every three people arrested by ICE agents had no criminal history, a @thebaltimorebanner.com analysis found. ICE pushed back, calling the data "simply wrong" but refusing to say what was inaccurate.
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
Immigrant arrests in Maryland hit new high. Most have no criminal record.
But contrary to the messaging from the president and his team, most of those arrested this year had no criminal history, according to a Banner analysis of newly released federal data.
www.thebanner.com
December 17, 2025 at 1:11 PM
During an immigration crackdown in Maryland this fall, two out of every three people arrested by ICE agents had no criminal history, a @thebaltimorebanner.com analysis found. ICE pushed back, calling the data "simply wrong" but refusing to say what was inaccurate.
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
Reposted by Ben Conarck
Most immigrants arrested in Maryland crackdowns have no criminal record
Immigrant arrests in Maryland hit new high. Most have no criminal record.
But contrary to the messaging from the president and his team, most of those arrested this year had no criminal history, according to a Banner analysis of newly released federal data.
buff.ly
December 17, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Most immigrants arrested in Maryland crackdowns have no criminal record
Reposted by Ben Conarck
Former supervisor guilty in cover-up of prisoner beating on Eastern Shore
Former supervisor guilty in cover-up of prisoner beating on Eastern Shore
A former lieutenant at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover has been found guilty for his participation in a cover-up after one of his junior officers physically abused a prisoner.
buff.ly
December 15, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Former supervisor guilty in cover-up of prisoner beating on Eastern Shore
Reposted by Ben Conarck
New: Gov. Moore's admin invited a natural gas industry insider to sit in on interviews to determine the latest Public Service Commission appointees. Records show the official was the only non-government employee present for the interviews: www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
Gas industry insider sat in on Moore administration interviews for new utility regulators
An American Gas Association employee participated in the interview process for the top leadership roles at the state’s utility regulating agency.
www.thebanner.com
December 12, 2025 at 8:36 PM
New: Gov. Moore's admin invited a natural gas industry insider to sit in on interviews to determine the latest Public Service Commission appointees. Records show the official was the only non-government employee present for the interviews: www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
Reposted by Ben Conarck
Officer: I was ‘used as a scapegoat’ after deaf man’s murder in Baltimore jail
Officer: I was ‘used as a scapegoat’ after deaf man’s murder in Baltimore jail
For years, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has declined to explain publicly the circumstances leading up to Gantt’s murder.
buff.ly
December 11, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Officer: I was ‘used as a scapegoat’ after deaf man’s murder in Baltimore jail
New: A former CO who is being sued after a deaf man‘s murder in a Baltimore jail said she was “placed in an impossible position” by her supervisors, made to guard the dormitory where he died “alone, untrained for that post, and unaware of the risks involved.” www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Officer: I was ‘used as a scapegoat’ after deaf man’s murder in Baltimore jail
For years, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has declined to explain publicly the circumstances leading up to Javarick Gantt’s murder.
www.thebanner.com
December 11, 2025 at 8:26 PM
New: A former CO who is being sued after a deaf man‘s murder in a Baltimore jail said she was “placed in an impossible position” by her supervisors, made to guard the dormitory where he died “alone, untrained for that post, and unaware of the risks involved.” www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Update: Maryland Office of the Public Defender says incarcerated children are still “trapped in freezing rooms” at the Youth Detention Center, which is without heat but “operating at 105% capacity.”
December 5, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Update: Maryland Office of the Public Defender says incarcerated children are still “trapped in freezing rooms” at the Youth Detention Center, which is without heat but “operating at 105% capacity.”
Breaking: Citing a third-party engineering report, the state corrections department is planning to imminently transfer all detainees out of an aging Baltimore pretrial detention facility that had numerous maintenance issues last year. www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Maryland plans to clear out troubled Baltimore detention center
The state corrections department is planning to imminently transfer all detainees out of the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center.
www.thebanner.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Breaking: Citing a third-party engineering report, the state corrections department is planning to imminently transfer all detainees out of an aging Baltimore pretrial detention facility that had numerous maintenance issues last year. www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Reposted by Ben Conarck
Locked-up children left ‘extremely cold’ at Baltimore facility, public defenders say
Locked-up children left ‘extremely cold’ at Baltimore facility, public defenders say
The detention center in downtown Baltimore houses children who have been charged as adults and are awaiting their criminal trials.
buff.ly
December 4, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Locked-up children left ‘extremely cold’ at Baltimore facility, public defenders say
Reposted by Ben Conarck
Deeply alarming reporting from @conarck.bsky.social in @thebaltimorebanner.com
Locked-up children left ‘extremely cold’ at Baltimore facility, public defenders say
The detention center in downtown Baltimore houses children who have been charged as adults and are awaiting their criminal trials.
www.thebanner.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Deeply alarming reporting from @conarck.bsky.social in @thebaltimorebanner.com
Maryland's increasingly violent prisons are relying more heavily on isolation to manage the short-staffed, aging facilities. In one year, nearly 4 out of every 10 prisoners did a stint in confinement. State recently paid $185K to a man who was in for almost a year. www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Maryland increasingly relies on isolating prisoners in ‘restrictive housing’
Criminal justice reform advocates say the long stretches of forced solitude in Maryland are known to cause mental health issues and equate the conditions to torture.
www.thebanner.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Maryland's increasingly violent prisons are relying more heavily on isolation to manage the short-staffed, aging facilities. In one year, nearly 4 out of every 10 prisoners did a stint in confinement. State recently paid $185K to a man who was in for almost a year. www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
"Maryland Transportation Authority Police quickly shut down traffic but failed to notify construction workers on the Francis Scott Key Bridge that a massive container ship without power was careening toward a bridge support, federal investigators said Tuesday." www.thebanner.com/economy/ntsb...
Key Bridge workers got no warning before collapse, NTSB says
Nearly 20 months after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River, federal officials are poised to make a final ruling about how it happened.
www.thebanner.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:28 PM
"Maryland Transportation Authority Police quickly shut down traffic but failed to notify construction workers on the Francis Scott Key Bridge that a massive container ship without power was careening toward a bridge support, federal investigators said Tuesday." www.thebanner.com/economy/ntsb...
Reposted by Ben Conarck
Baltimore County councilman calls for investigation into traffic stop racial disparities
Baltimore County councilman calls for investigation into traffic stop racial disparities
Baltimore County Councilman Izzy Patoka said he has spoken with Inspector General Kelly Madigan, and has not filed any formal motions as of yet, “though there could possibly be.”
buff.ly
October 28, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Baltimore County councilman calls for investigation into traffic stop racial disparities
New investigation w/ @invisibae.bsky.social:
Baltimore County has the worst racial disparities in traffic stops throughout Maryland. Officers accused of profiling are quickly exonerated despite issuing 70-89% of their tickets to Black drivers. Read more:
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Baltimore County has the worst racial disparities in traffic stops throughout Maryland. Officers accused of profiling are quickly exonerated despite issuing 70-89% of their tickets to Black drivers. Read more:
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
‘Driving while Black’ persists in Baltimore County
Black drivers make up most of the traffic stops in Baltimore County, despite being 30% of the population — disparities police have known about for years but have failed to fix.
www.thebanner.com
October 27, 2025 at 11:37 AM
New investigation w/ @invisibae.bsky.social:
Baltimore County has the worst racial disparities in traffic stops throughout Maryland. Officers accused of profiling are quickly exonerated despite issuing 70-89% of their tickets to Black drivers. Read more:
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Baltimore County has the worst racial disparities in traffic stops throughout Maryland. Officers accused of profiling are quickly exonerated despite issuing 70-89% of their tickets to Black drivers. Read more:
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Reposted by Ben Conarck
How ‘driving while Black’ persists in Baltimore County
‘Driving while Black’ persists in Baltimore County
Black drivers make up most of the traffic stops in Baltimore County, despite being 30% of the population — disparities police have known about for years but have failed to fix.
buff.ly
October 27, 2025 at 11:00 AM
How ‘driving while Black’ persists in Baltimore County
Reposted by Ben Conarck
Notably, the least-bad explanation here seems to be that prison officials negligently let a schizophrenic man waste away in an isolation cell covered in his own excrement.
New: Correctional staff at a Western Maryland prison shut off the water to a mentally ill man’s cell, then allowed him to suffer for eight days before he finally died of dehydration, according to a recent court filing.
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
How a Maryland prisoner died an ‘excruciating’ death from dehydration
Lamont Mealy died of dehydration in an isolation cell at Western Correctional Institution in 2023. A lawsuit claims state officials covered it up.
www.thebanner.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Notably, the least-bad explanation here seems to be that prison officials negligently let a schizophrenic man waste away in an isolation cell covered in his own excrement.
Reposted by Ben Conarck
How a Maryland prisoner died an ‘excruciating’ death from dehydration
How a Maryland prisoner died an ‘excruciating’ death from dehydration
Lamont Mealy died of dehydration in an isolation cell at Western Correctional Institution in 2023. A lawsuit claims state officials covered it up.
buff.ly
October 23, 2025 at 11:29 AM
How a Maryland prisoner died an ‘excruciating’ death from dehydration
New: Correctional staff at a Western Maryland prison shut off the water to a mentally ill man’s cell, then allowed him to suffer for eight days before he finally died of dehydration, according to a recent court filing.
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
How a Maryland prisoner died an ‘excruciating’ death from dehydration
Lamont Mealy died of dehydration in an isolation cell at Western Correctional Institution in 2023. A lawsuit claims state officials covered it up.
www.thebanner.com
October 23, 2025 at 11:29 AM
New: Correctional staff at a Western Maryland prison shut off the water to a mentally ill man’s cell, then allowed him to suffer for eight days before he finally died of dehydration, according to a recent court filing.
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
www.thebanner.com/community/cr...