How Baltimore became a sad harbinger of the future

In a federal courtroom in Baltimore on July 14th, a defendant named Steven Angelini sat at a desk wearing a mask and an orange jumpsuit. Until the day before, he had been an officer in the Baltimore Police Department (bpd), albeit suspended to desk duty. Then he was indicted by federal prosecutors on charges of distributing cocaine and oxycodone (a powerful prescription opioid). The hearing was to determine whether Mr Angelini should be given bail. According to the prosecution, he had fed information and prescription drugs to a motorcycle gang, and offered to supply an illegal “ghost gun” and ammunition, in exchange for cocaine. Mr Angelini was denied bail. The judge, justifying his decision, declared that “nothing in this community is more dangerous than drug dealers with firearms.”