Police in Baltimore worked to stop violence after a weekend in which 20 people were shot, eight of them fatally. After the weekend, a total of 110 people had been slain in Baltimore this year, and homicides were up 10 percent compared with the same time last year. City Police Commissioner Batts told reporters that the department will respond to the spike in violence by working with federal and state partners. However, City Council members questioned police and called for a hearing to look into the weekend's shootings, to ensure that the Police Department was prepared for an upward trend in summer violence. City Councilman Carl Stokes stated that he wanted to hold the department to the standard in 2011, when Baltimore saw a 30-year low in homicides. To read more, go to: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-ci-homicide-crisis-20130624,0,3480278.story?page=1
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