According the city’s much-touted management tool CitiStat, which ostensibly uses hyper-accurate data mapping to achieve government accountability, Greektown hosted eight crimes during the two-week period ending May 27. Two homes were broken into, two cars were stolen, two larcenies from vehicles occurred, and, in one May 18 incident, an armed robber committed aggravated assault. What’s missing from this crime toll? Eighteen armed robberies and three attempted armed robberies on May 25, when police interrupted gunmen robbing nearly $24,000 from a high-stakes poker game at 4600 Eastern Ave. (“Luck of the Draw,” Mobtown Beat, June 7).
When asked about the missing data June 6, mayoral spokeswoman Raquel Guillory answered with a question: “Do they update that regularly?” After it was pointed out that CitiStat’s data showed one of the stolen cars was taken on the same day as the poker robbery, indicating that the information was current, Guillory said, “Let me see what I can find out.” As of press time, despite repeated messages left about the request, she hadn’t called with an explanation, leaving open the question of CitiStat’s reliability as an accurate portrayer of crime in Baltimore.
