While Baltimore police send in troops to shut down 10 of the city's most notorious drug markets, Emmanuel Taylor just wants a clean alley. For the past month, according to Taylor, city garbage crews have refused to pick up trash behind his Park Heights home because the alley is too blocked with debris for the truck to drive down it.
People come from other side of town to dump here.
It builds up nests for rats. We can't let the kids go out and play lots of times because of rats. At the Park Heights command post, city Department of Social Services staffers at one table help residents who need food stamps, medical assistance, or similar services. Nearby, Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems employees screen heroin addicts for treatment slots. As director of the Northwestern Neighborhood Service Center, Alice Poole-Davis knows well the issues plaguing Park Heights and other communities.