Baltimore Activist Calls On City to Pay Murderers to Stop Killing People
'I've talked to these people... they want money,' Tyree Moorehead says
© press
A Baltimore activist has called on city officials to start paying murderers to stop killing people.
Convict-turned-community activist Tyree Moorehead spent 18 years in prison for second-degree murder which he committed when he was 15.
He was released from prison in 2012 and has since devoted his time to trying to work with killers in Baltimore to reduce homocide rates.
Speaking with FOX 45 this week, Moorehead believes his plan to pay criminals not to kill people will lower the city's soaring shooting numbers.
"I can relate to the shooters, guess what they want? They want money," he said.
"I've talked to these people, I've seen the shooters, it’s a small city, I know who the hustlers are."
© press
Moorehead has already taken other steps in an effort to curb violence in the streets of Baltimore, according to Fox News.
As of 2019, he painted nearly 200 "No Shoot Zones" throughout the city, according to WJZ-TV reporter Paul Gessler.
Since 2015, rapper Tyree Moorehead has painted nearly 200 "No Shoot Zones" throughout Baltimore.
— Paul Gessler (@PaulGessler) December 3, 2019
Since July, we've been working on a story with him about what drives him and whether they work. It airs tonight at 5:30 on @wjz. pic.twitter.com/PzAgIP89yW
"I've talked to these people, I've seen the shooters, it’s a small city, I know who the hustlers are," he continued.
Baltimore has continued to experience a high rate of killings and shootings, despite a decline in many categories of crime during the coronavirus pandemic last year.
In 2020, the city eclipsed 300 homicides for the sixth year in a row, while recording more than 1,000 shootings.
Former Baltimore Police spokesman T.J. Smith said he doesn't believe paying criminals is the answer.
"It could make it easier for people to get their hands on guns because they now have an influx of a different level of cash," Smith told FOX 45.
© press
However, he noted that a new creative idea was needed to curb violence in the city and said that Moorehead's idea "speaks to the desperation that we all have."
Richmond, Calif., previously tested the controversial strategy of paying people not to commit crimes in order to combat gun violence that plagued the community
It resulted in the city seeing its lowest murder rate in more than 30 years, the station reported.
Richmond also saw a 66% reduction in firearm assaults causing injury or death between 2010 and 2017, according to advancepeace.org.
