A forward-thinking Sheriff – tasked with serving eviction orders – must take a greater public leadership role in this sensitive process. A Sheriff must make certain that tenants are properly notified of eviction proceeding without undue delay. A Sheriff must work with the City of Baltimore and all stakeholders to actively market the rental assistance program to prevent avoidable evictions.

One of my first priorities upon assuming the position of Baltimore’s next Sheriff will be to expand training. I will order that Deputy sheriffs have more training to recognize when unsafe housing conditions exist and when unlicensed landlords are using the court system without conducting required lead paint inspection. Deputies will also be trained to handle problems concerning “squatters” and property scams that are on the rise and harmful to residents.

I know there exist resources at the Sheriff’s Office to be more compassionate and also more efficient when serving evictions. However, this current sheriff’s office has incredible inefficiencies.  These avoidable inefficiencies include; using multiple employees over a phone system to schedule rather than using email, failing to upgrade deputy service areas that have not been redrawn in decades, and failing to employ computerized route planning. This lack of modernization causes problems for both landlords and tenants and creates significant waste.