Fixing Hagerstown’s Violent Crime Starts with Arming its Residents (Opinion)

Just a few weeks ago, I wrote about my experience in Hagerstown, Indiana and how safe I felt walking the streets of that town. Today, July 18th, Hagerstown, Maryland saw a double shooting in broad daylight on East Washington Street. This can’t be fixed overnight, but it can be fixed. But the good news is, one of the first steps does not wait for the local government to take action, and is something each and every concerned resident 21 years of age or older can do themselves.

It is my belief that at the heart of the violent crime in Hagerstown, Maryland is its drug problem. It’s no secret that Hagerstown is one of the top areas affected by fatal overdoses and the opioid epidemic, and that Washington County is among the top 5 counties in Maryland for fatal overdoses. Part of the contributing factors of course are that Washington County has two state prisons (MCI and MCTC) as well as the county detention center. Unfortunately, where there are prisons, there are families of prisoners who sometimes also commit crimes themselves. But compounding this problem is also the location of Hagerstown, which sits at the crossroads of I-81 and I-70. These two interstates serve as major drug corridors providing drug traffickers with easy access to all points North, South, East, and West. Economic conditions can also be partially to blame for Hagerstown’s crime problems. With a significant percentage of residents living in poverty, some unfortunately turn to crime to fulfill their needs.

However, with all of Hagerstown’s geographic challenges, the State of Maryland is also to blame for problems we’re now seeing statewide – a shortage of law enforcement officers. A significant contributing factor in this is Maryland revoking the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights, making being a law enforcement officer a much riskier career. And while Hagerstown Police Department has not to my knowledge announced how short-staffed they are, the fact that they have changed their Facebook logo to an image that simply reads “Join HPD” and are currently actively recruiting multiple open officer positions indicates to me that they are in dire need of more officers.

This shortage of officers is clearly causing issues across the city, including delays in responding to (or sometimes not ever responding to) 911 calls. I was recently informed that on Monday July 15, 2024, a 911 call was placed within the City of Hagerstown’s limits at 3:12 PM to report two individuals using drugs openly in the alley behind a private residence on Mulberry St, only a few blocks away from the shooting which occurred today on East Washington street. The resident who reported the shooting informed us (as well as emailed the city council) that he waited for over an hour for Hagerstown Police to arrive. No officers ever arrived to address the call. Now, if there truly weren’t any officers available, or if the city has simply chosen to ignore calls about drug usage in public, remains to be seen, but the cold harsh reality is that the City of Hagerstown is enabling the city’s drug problems, and in the process enabling the city’s violent crime problems.

What I am about to say is not going to go without controversy. It’s time for Hagerstown residents to begin arming themselves. If criminals are going to be bold enough to endanger innocent bystanders in broad daylight, it’s clear the criminals no longer fear consequences for their actions, and certainly don’t fear the police arriving when they’re simply being “suspicious” and haven’t even committed a crime. Clearly we do not have sufficient police officers available to respond to calls adequately, so Hagerstown residents are on their own to defend themselves from the escalating violent crime in Hagerstown. The gloves need to come off, and the people need to start standing up for themselves, because clearly no-one is coming to save us.

Fortunately, all states are now “shall issue” states, in that residents without criminal background can apply for and obtain a permit to conceal carry a firearm in the State of Maryland. The full requirements are at the Maryland State Police website, but essentially you need to get fingerprinted and complete a training course, including a shooting competency test. Fortunately there are many local businesses in Washington County which offer the training course at an affordable price, and often offer fingerprinting at the time of the course.

Now residents certainly shouldn’t take the law into their own hands. However, be aware that Maryland law allows the use of reasonable force to defend yourself or others from harm in certain situations. But a few stipulations apply. Maryland’s self-defense laws allow individuals to use reasonable force to defend themselves when they believe they are in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm. The key principles include the duty to retreat outside the home, and the Castle Doctrine, which allows individuals to stand their ground in their home. Self-defense claims require proving a reasonable and actual belief of danger, absence of provocation, and proportional use of force. Additionally, the prosecution bears the burden of disproving self-defense claims once raised. But do be aware, if you shoot someone in self defense, you are likely going to jail until it’s all sorted out. Of course, the old saying is better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.

I wish it wasn’t this way. I really wish that Hagerstown, Maryland had the same “Mayberry” feeling as Hagerstown, Indiana. Sadly, these are the times we now live in, brought on by our own state and local governments. But, I’d rather read a headline “Resident shoots attacker in self defense” than “Resident found dead in street shooting, attacker unknown”. And maybe if those self defense headlines start popping up often enough, the criminals in Hagerstown will start thinking twice about their public acts of violence.

Opinion article by Ken Buckler, President of RFHC. All opinions are his own, and do not reflect those of our sponsors or clients.