Mayor Takes Ride With Registry Task Force

BALTIMORE -- Mayor Sheila Dixon took to the streets of Baltimore city Tuesday to check out how the gun offender registry is working after it launched a year ago.

Anyone convicted of a gun offense in the city must register with and report to police. Every week, a task force and patrol units visit individuals in the database to crack down on illegal guns and the people who use them.

Dixon went door-to-door with the city’s gun offender task force to make sure the strategy is working.

“The purpose of the ride-along is to see how the program is working … say it is effective and helps them to stay on point," Dixon told 11 News.

As of Tuesday morning, there were 472 gun offenders in the database, 270 of whom were incarcerated, 50 of whom lived outside city limits and 152 more that were out of jail and living in Baltimore. Several of those offenders were paid a visit by the mayor.

“It was good to actually see it in action…and it’s working," Dixon said.

11 News has learned that the program is working so well that a juvenile gun offender registry is set to launch…

Dixon said she plans to lobby for two pieces of related legislation in Annapolis this session, one of which would reduce good time credits for gun offenders. The second would deny bail for gun offenders with prior gun convictions.