OPINION:
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
In jail and can’t afford to pay your bail? Well, there’s an app for that?
It’s called GunBail and it works like this — for $99.
After your arrest, someone contacts GunBail, offers a working firearm for bail, GunBail contacts law enforcement authorities, the exchange is made and quicker than you can say free at last the defendant is out on bail.
Baltimore is considering adopting a GunBail proposition courtesy of Council member Brandon Scott, who offered a resolution Monday.
While Mr. Scott has the initial say, he will not have the last because other city officials, including State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby and the Baltimore Police Department, have spoken with GunBail representatives.
Mrs. Mosby, who ran point on the investigation of the infamous Freddie Gray case, has said “such innovative programmatic concepts are inspiring” but pointed out “the program required more development from a legal standpoint.”
Baltimore police hit the bull’s-eye, though.
“We’re always looking for creative ideas to get guns off of the street,” police spokesman T.J. Smith said. “Something this serious deserves a lot of scrutiny.”
The GunBail program list lots of caveats on its website. For instance, it says that the jail where the defendant is held provides details on his release.
GunBail also stipulates that “a) Said gun must be exact match to GunBails photographed gun for surrender”; “b) Said gun must be completely unloaded without clip or bullets inside”; “c) Gun must be properly and securely packed inside GunBails [sic] mailing material”; and “d) If transported in a vehicle the packaged gun must be stored/carried in the trunk of the vehicle.”
And if you’re still wondering about the free ride aspect, wait no longer.
GunBail answers the question under the heading, “Will the gun I turn in be investigated for previous crimes?”
“NO!” shouts GunBail. “Under GunBail’s amnesty agreement no weapon turned in through our program will be investigated further.”
And therein lies the prosecutors’ and police officers’ legal rub.
Therein lies the reason this idiot proposal deserves more than a lot of scrutiny. Essentially, GunBail wants neither the shooter nor the weapon to be held accountable.
That’s not bail reform.
And by the way, the founder and CEO of GunBail is Trevor Brooks, a Baltimore convicted murderer who was released from prison in 2015.
Mr. Brooks gets a parting shot, courtesy of The Washington Post: “[W]e’re creating a new category, and in doing that, we’re fleshing out the operations, including the specific stages at which law enforcement and judiciary systems must be integrated.”
If a startup app, entrepreneur and convicted are allowed to dictate when law enforcement and judicial systems are integrated, kiss public safety goodbye.
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