Ben Conarck
@conarck.bsky.social
Covering government and criminal justice in Prince George's County for The Baltimore Banner • tips to bconarck @thebaltimorebanner.com
Maryland had one of the highest prisoner homicide rates in the nation last year, second only to Georgia. By @justinfenton.bsky.social, @conarck.bsky.social , @dylansegelbaum.bsky.social www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Maryland prisons rank among nation’s worst for killings
Since 2023, Maryland has had more prison homicides than all of its neighboring states combined. Its homicide rate last year was nearly four times the national average, based on available data gathered...
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From my colleague @conarck.bsky.social: A political ally of the sheriff schedules evictions in Prince George’s County — for a fee
A political ally of the sheriff schedules evictions in Prince George’s — for a fee
Known as the “mayor of Suitland,” Elsie Jacobs has gained an outsize but informal role at the sheriff’s office.
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Relatedly, tomorrow is my last day at The Banner, where I've worked for four years. I'm indebted to all the sources who have trusted me with their stories. I'm excited to share more about what's next for me in the near future.
Ben Conarck@conarck.bsky.social · 3w agoNEW: In one of my last stories @thebaltimorebanner.com, I dug into an unusual arrangement at the Prince George's County Sheriff's Office, where a political supporter of the sheriff acknowledged she is taking payments from landlords to help coordinate evictions. www.thebanner.com/community/ho...
NEW: In one of my last stories @thebaltimorebanner.com, I dug into an unusual arrangement at the Prince George's County Sheriff's Office, where a political supporter of the sheriff acknowledged she is taking payments from landlords to help coordinate evictions. www.thebanner.com/community/ho...
A political ally of the sheriff schedules evictions in Prince George’s — for a fee
Known as the “mayor of Suitland,” Elsie Jacobs has gained an outsize but informal role at the sheriff’s office.
thebanner.com
Nonprofit leader with ties to Prince George’s council member faces trial on second DUI charge, @conarck.bsky.social reports. (via @bannerpgcounty.bsky.social)
Nonprofit leader with ties to Prince George’s council member faces trial on second DUI charge
The leader of a nonprofit that mentors children, who has come under scrutiny for his ties to a County Council member and as the recipient of millions of dollars of county funds, was arrested earlier t...
thebanner.com
Prince George’s sheriff’s ‘minor’ motorcycle accident was more serious than initially indicated www.thebanner.com/community/lo... via @conarck.bsky.social
Prince George's sheriff's motorcycle accident was more serious than initially indicated
Prince George's County Sheriff John Carr was in a motorcycle accident at the end of May. The sheriff's office initially downplayed the incident, but during a recent interview, the sheriff acknowledged...
thebanner.com
New: It turns out the Prince George's County sheriff's motorcycle accident last month — which his chief of staff downplayed as "minor" — was more serious than the office initially indicated. We have the details: www.thebanner.com/community/lo...
Prince George's sheriff's motorcycle accident was more serious than initially indicated
Prince George's County Sheriff John Carr was in a motorcycle accident at the end of May. The sheriff's office initially downplayed the incident, but during a recent interview, the sheriff acknowledged...
thebanner.com
Last fall, an energy mogul begged Wes Moore to back his data center complex. It worked. Records offer a rare window into how a wealthy & politically connected businessman won the governor’s endorsement for his controversial foray into Maryland data centers: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
A data center developer wanted a power plant. He needed Moore’s help.
Emails obtained by The Baltimore Banner offer a new window into Gov. Wes Moore’s approach to an emerging data center industry. His decision to back a controversial development in southern Maryland rai...
thebanner.com
The Bi-County park and planning commission has sued Prince George’s County over the $39 million budget transfer my colleagues Jack Hogan and @conarck.bsky.social have been reporting about.
Bi-county commission sues Prince George’s County over controversial budget
The parks and planning commission claims that a $39 million transfer authorized via the county budget and the budget that the council set for the commission violate state law and the county’s charter.
thebanner.com
New: The Maryland correctional officers' union is calling out the corrections dept. over plans to have COs remotely watch prisoners from a control tower during rec, calling the move reckless and dangerous. It comes amid an unprecedented spike in prison homicides. www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Prison recreation time without guards on the ground? Officers union sounds alarm.
The Maryland correctional officers union is criticizing plans to deal with staffing shortages by giving incarcerated people unsupervised recreation time, saying the move would place both prisoners and...
thebanner.com
Bit of a delayed notice, but I'm now covering local government and criminal justice in Prince George's County for @thebaltimorebanner.com. We're forming a small but mighty team here in the D.C. suburbs, and our reporting is already having an impact: www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
Prince George’s sheriff’s office PIO placed on leave following audit of her nonprofit
The sheriff’s office said it didn’t learn of the audit until May 18, the day The Banner reported its findings.
thebanner.com
A woman spent months in Maryland jails because of unchecked facial recognition technology, @conarck.bsky.social reports www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
A woman spent months in Maryland jails because of unchecked facial recognition technology
The ACLU filed complaints against several Maryland police departments asking for formal apologies and reforms over the use of facial recognition technology they say landed an innocent woman in jail fo...
thebanner.com
Many thanks to Busboys and Poets in Hyattsville for hosting us for #localnewsday. And a nice introduction for @ashleyclarkejourno.bsky.social, our newest member of the team covering Prince George's County. @rondez.bsky.social is all smiles and @conarck.bsky.social is on deadline!
With limited resources, Baltimore Police struggle to aid mentally ill people
With limited resources, Baltimore Police struggle to aid mentally ill people
The Crisis Response Team was created nearly a decade ago, prompted in part by the federal investigation into the city’s police department following the 2015 in-custody death of Freddie Gray.
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By @conarck.bsky.social: With limited resources, Baltimore Police struggle to aid mentally ill people. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)
With limited resources, Baltimore Police struggle to aid mentally ill people
The Crisis Response Team was created nearly a decade ago, prompted in part by the federal investigation into the city’s police department following the 2015 in-custody death of Freddie Gray.
thebanner.com
UMD officer accused of sexual misconduct with student loses police powers, @conarck.bsky.social and @elliew0lfe.bsky.social report. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)
University of Maryland Police officer accused of sexual misconduct with student has powers stripped by state
An internal investigation by the University of Maryland Police Department found that Meadows met the College Park student on a social media website known as “FET: Kinky BDSM Dating.”
thebanner.com
Washington County declares support for proposed ICE detention facility near Hagerstown
Washington County declares its support for ICE detention facility outside Hagerstown
Washington County commissioners declared support for the conversion of a sprawling warehouse outside Hagerstown into a proposed federal immigration detention facility on Tuesday.
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Breaking: In Western Maryland, Washington Co. commissioners declared their support for the conversion of a sprawling warehouse into an ICE detention facility, in spite of protests inside/outside the hearing room and opposition from the state's two U.S. senators. www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
Washington County declares its support for ICE detention facility outside Hagerstown
Washington County commissioners declared support for the conversion of a sprawling warehouse outside Hagerstown into a proposed federal immigration detention facility on Tuesday.
thebanner.com
Few people irritate me as much as the Temu John Prine guy on Instagram
Nearly 1 in 4 people killed by Maryland police was in mental health crisis, AG finds
Nearly 1 in 4 people killed by Maryland police was in mental health crisis, AG finds
Since 2021, the Maryland Office of the Attorney General has reviewed 86 cases in which someone was killed by police — and 20 of those cases involved mental health crises, according to a report released...
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New: Since 2021, the Maryland Office of the Attorney General has reviewed 86 cases in which someone was killed by police or died during a police response — and 20 of those cases involved mental health crises, according to a report released Thursday. www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Nearly 1 in 4 people killed by Maryland police was in mental health crisis, AG finds
Since 2021, the Maryland Office of the Attorney General has reviewed 86 cases in which someone was killed by police — and 20 of those cases involved mental health crises, according to a report release...
thebanner.com
New: Baltimore Police are on track to scale back more federal oversight after a judge recognized improvements to the hiring/retention processes and a transformation of the agency's technical capabilities (records management, body cams and early-intervention systems) www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Federal oversight expected to scale back after Baltimore stabilizes police staffing
The Baltimore Police Department got a preliminary green light from the judge overseeing its federally mandated reforms that it's on track to shed mandates for recruitment/hiring and technology.
thebanner.com
New: Washington Co. officials say there is nothing they can do to stop the federal government from building a sprawling immigration detention facility in Western Maryland. It could provide ICE with a long-desired foothold in the region to surge the area w/ arrests. www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
Washington County says feds’ plan for immigration detention near Hagerstown cannot be stopped
The federal government moved quickly over the last month to establish a foothold in Maryland, notifying Washington County officials of its intentions just days before inking the deed giving it full ow...
thebanner.com
Feds purchase warehouse near Hagerstown, fueling talk of immigration detention center
Feds purchase warehouse near Hagerstown, fueling talk of detention center
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has inked a deal to purchase a warehouse just outside Hagerstown for $102.4 million.
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News: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has inked a deal to purchase a warehouse just outside Hagerstown for $102.4 million, fueling concerns of its potential conversion into an immigration detention facility. For @thebaltimorebanner.com www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
Feds purchase warehouse near Hagerstown, fueling talk of detention center
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has inked a deal to purchase a warehouse just outside Hagerstown for $102.4 million.
thebanner.com
Corrections officials tell me the victim was serving a five-year sentence for a felony firearm possession charge, with two additional years for offenses committed while in prison. He had been incarcerated since June 2022.
Justin Fenton@justinfenton.bsky.social · 6mo agoSomething's going on in Maryland's prisons. As @conarck.bsky.social continues to chronicle, last year had the highest prison killings in a decade (13) and there's been 3 more already this month alone www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Something's going on in Maryland's prisons. As @conarck.bsky.social continues to chronicle, last year had the highest prison killings in a decade (13) and there's been 3 more already this month alone www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Another Maryland prisoner is killed as homicide surge continues
A prisoner was killed inside the Jessup Correctional Institution on Monday, representing the third prison homicide this month, state officials said.
thebanner.com
New: Last night, a 33-year-old named Joseph Harrell was killed in front of the library at Jessup Correctional Institution. It was the third prison homicide in Maryland just this month, putting the state on pace to exceed last year's record of 13 prison homicides. www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
Another Maryland prisoner is killed as homicide surge continues
A prisoner was killed inside the Jessup Correctional Institution on Monday, representing the third prison homicide this month, state officials said.
thebanner.com
We spoke to the relative of a detainee seen in the video, the former field office director for the facility, advocates and lawmakers for this story. This is the kind of coverage you will only read @thebaltimorebanner.com
Baltimore Banner@thebaltimorebanner.com · 6mo agoViral video provides rare look inside crowded ICE holding room in Baltimore
New: After pushback from reformers and the CO’s union, Maryland’s controversial plan to build a $1.2 billion “therapeutic” jail in downtown Baltimore appears to have hit a major snag. @govwesmoore.bsky.social has pulled it from his proposed budget. www.thebanner.com/community/cr...
No money for budget-busting Baltimore jail in Gov. Moore’s spending plan
The proposed detention facility, which is set to be located in the city’s downtown jail complex, had been slated to receive $125 million.
thebanner.com