Baltimore Police Department Targeted By Major Gangs-Is This War?

Police said in a statement that they have received information that members of "various gangs" — including the Black Guerrilla Family, the Bloods and the Crips — have "entered into a partnership" to harm police.

While it isn't really out of the ordinary for an officer to get a threat of some kind or even a death threat from an individual, now we have not just one gang but at least three gangs that have basically waged war against an entire police department. This police department really needs to be on their toes right now as they have one hell of a slippery situation on their hands, will they lose officers over this? I'm not saying lose them through violence, but lose them because they know what they are up against and because of that they may leave the department out of fear? You know most of the officers have families and taking gangs on in a full out war is not on their agenda.

Wow, there are so many angles that should be looked at in this situation, will this basically be another kind of civil war? While the gangs that are in question are very large in numbers and easily out number the police department and more than likely out gun them as well, will the fact that their lack of organization be their demise? Most of these gangs are divided up into sub groups you could say, all of them have a "leader" working towards a main cause but somewhat like politicians they have their own agenda of power and money. This isn't like back in the "hay day" of gangs where there was a firm foundation and structure for them, relying on the guidance of the leaders somewhat like the "mob" if you want to look at it that way. These gangs are all super violent and won't hesitate to shoot on impulse for any reason, skin color being one of them and uniform being another. Another thing, the affiliations the gangs hold, do the officers need to worry about the gangs calling in reinforcements from other gangs?

Although the police department is highly trained in the use of firearms, they employ prior military personnel that are experienced in combat situations, and they are equipped with para military vehicles, will they ultimately be able to stop the gangs from attacking? Will the "law" hinder them from doing anything? They can't exactly "shoot first and ask questions later" they are the ones that have to be shot at first before they can do anything at all, they can't stop you simply because you "look like a gang banger" and they want to know. This puts all of the officers in a bad situation because they could be killed before they could even do anything about it.

With such a big problem on the hands of the Baltimore Police Department, will the government step in and take control? The police department is looking at a full scale war with at least three major gangs that absolutely in reality could wipe the department out, either in a long term war by picking off officers one by one until the department has no more resources or they could go for a strong arm attack and balls to the wall fight until the department is destroyed. Should the government step in and send military troops to "take out" the gang members before they strike? Should the government do anything at all or just wait to see if the city police department can handle it themselves and lose officers that legitimately protect their citizens to gang members that have no respect for the law or those that faithfully uphold it?