Baltimore police are forming a new task force to target robberies throughout the city.
"A friend of mine was actually held up at gun point while he was knocking on my front door," a resident of Fells Point said as he was putting air in the tire of his family's stroller.
Police said roughly two dozen detectives will be assigned to the new unit, which is expected to be fully staffed within the next few days.
"They need to know that we're going to put the resources together to go after them," BPD Spokesman TJ Smith said.
Smith says mostly young people are committing these crimes. Officers arrested six juveniles in connection with robberies committed Halloween night.
The task force follows the success of recent investigative efforts aimed at cracking down on illegal dirt bikes and also on “bump and run” car-jackings.
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Compared to 2015, robberies from January until late October are up 15% overall across the city. The biggest spike, is in Southeast Baltimore, up 37% compared to the same time period last year.
Kea Hawkins works at Johns Hopkins and visits Fells Point often. She grew up in the city and said she never felt unsafe, but she has heard about robberies in the area.
"We get text messages from Hopkins sometimes about people that has gotten robbed like away from the campus where there is security around all the time," Hawkins said.
Smith said the new unit will not take away from any other part of the department.
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