CURRENT EDITION: baltimore (none)🔄 Loading BlueConic...EDITION HISTORY: No changes tracked
🔵 BlueConic: ___🍪 Cookie: ___ UNKNOWN🔗 Query: ___✏️ Composer: ___

Ben Conarck

Ben

Ben Conarck joined The Baltimore Banner as a criminal justice reporter in July 2022. Previously, he worked for the Miami Herald as a health care reporter and led the newspaper’s award-winning coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. He contributed to the newspaper’s coverage of the Champlain Towers South collapse, which won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news. Prior to his time in Miami, Ben was an investigative reporter covering criminal justice at The Florida Times-Union, where he received the Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award and the Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting for his series with ProPublica on racial profiling by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

The latest from Ben Conarck

Baltimore Police’s new traffic unit sets sights on Virginia plates, dangerous driving
The Baltimore Police Department is rolling out a new “citywide traffic team” focused on reducing fatal crashes and dangerous driving behaviors across the city.
Baltimore Police announced the formation of a new "citywide traffic team" on  Tuesday.
Baltimore Police release body camera video of nonfatal Bolton Hill shooting
A 48-year-old woman marched toward officers and threatened them with a large knife, prompting one to open fire and strike her twice in the leg, body camera footage released by the Baltimore Police Department shows.
A still from body camera footage from a Baltimore Police officer involved shooting at 1100 Park Avenue on January 19, 2026.
Nearly 1 in 4 people killed by Maryland police was in mental health crisis, AG finds
Since 2021, the Maryland Office of the Attorney General has reviewed 86 cases in which someone was killed by police — and 20 of those cases involved mental health crises, according to a report released Thursday.
Baltimore Police on scene of a police-involved shooting on the 2700 block of Mosher Street on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
Federal oversight expected to diminish after Baltimore stabilizes police staffing
The Baltimore Police Department got a preliminary green light from the judge overseeing its federally mandated reforms, confirming that it’s on track to shed mandates for recruitment, hiring and technology.
Baltimore Police officers follow a crowd of a few hundred demonstrators during a march through downtown Baltimore to protest ICE earlier this month.
Washington County: Feds’ plan for immigration detention near Hagerstown cannot be stopped
The federal government moved quickly over the last month to establish a foothold in Maryland, notifying Washington County officials of its intentions just days before inking the deed giving it full ownership of the property in Williamsport, just outside of Hagerstown.
his new warehouse off Hopewell Road outside Hagerstown has beed toured by government officials for possible use as an ICE detention facility.
Feds purchase warehouse near Hagerstown, fueling talk of immigration detention center
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has inked a deal to purchase a warehouse just outside Hagerstown for $102.4 million.
A warehouse off Hopewell Road outside Hagerstown has beed toured by government officials for possible use as an ICE detention facility.
‘Completely unacceptable’: Moore’s office chides Trump over Baltimore ICE facility video
Gov. Wes Moore’s office slammed the Trump administration for the conditions depicted in a widely circulated video showing an overcrowded holding cell at the downtown Baltimore field office for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Gov. Wes Moore’s office called out the Trump administration on Tuesday.
Third Maryland prisoner is killed this month after record year
A prisoner was killed inside the Jessup Correctional Institution on Monday, representing the third prison homicide this month, state officials said.
Barbed wire is seen outside the Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown on Wednesday, August 7, 2024.
Viral video provides rare look inside crowded ICE holding room in Baltimore
A new viral video taken inside an immigration holding room facility in downtown Baltimore is the latest proof of abusive treatment of people confined in federal custody, activists and lawmakers say.
A partial screengrab from a video posted to social media purporting to show the inside of a holding room for undocumented immigrants in downtown Baltimore.
No money for Baltimore’s budget-busting jail in Gov. Moore’s new spending plan
The proposed detention facility, which is set to be located in the city’s downtown jail complex, had been slated to receive $125 million.
A copy of the Maryland capital budget and operating budget volumes 1 and 2 at the State House.
‘Deliberate indifference’: Civil rights coalition sues Harford sheriff over jail suicides
A coalition of civil rights groups is suing the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, claiming that the agency failed to properly assess jail detainees’ suicide risk and aggravated their mental health conditions.
January 22, 2024 - Photo of common area with tables and stools inside prison. Blue doors lead to cells off the ground floor and off a second floor walkway above.
Plans for a historically expensive jail in Baltimore just got even more costly: $1.2 billion
As Maryland’s budget outlook worsens, state officials are hedging on the controversial Baltimore jail project.
Barbed wire is seen outside the Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown on Wednesday, August 7, 2024.
Human waste dripped from ceilings, inmates dug through walls at Baltimore jail, report says
A report dated Dec. 4, 2025, details dire conditions at the since-evacuated Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center in downtown Baltimore.
Exterior of the Maryland Reception Diagnostic and Classification Center at 550 E Madison St.
Youth detention center plagued by mice, unsanitary conditions, improper medical care: report
Unannounced inspections of the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center last year revealed a persistent rodent infestation, malfunctioning air conditioning, and a paraplegic child housed in the infirmary who was left sitting in his own waste.
Baltimore Juvenile Justice Center at 300 N. Gay St. opened it’s doors in October 2003
Carjackings down, hiring up: Baltimore Police release ‘achievements’ of 2025
Baltimore Police released a year-end report Thursday celebrating everything from improvements in hiring and retaining officers to higher clearance rates.
Officer Rashad Hamond patrols the neighborhood on foot in the Northwest District on March 18, 2025. Hamond was fresh on the force ten years ago when the Baltimore uprising took place.
Maryland prison killings rise to decade high amid staffing shortage
Thirteen incarcerated people have been killed by other prisoners this year, state officials said, marking the highest annual total in at least a decade.
A guard tower and barbed wire are seen outside the Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown on Wednesday, August 7, 2024.
Analysis: Baltimore homicides declined furthest, fastest in the country as killings could reach a 48-year low
Baltimore is on track to end 2025 with its lowest homicide total in 48 years, with fewer than 150 killings expected, marking a significant decline since 2022.
Baltimore Police have a ‘pattern’ of using vehicles to injure suspects, lawsuit alleges
Baltimore Police have long used department vehicles to inflict serious injuries on suspects, a recently filed lawsuit alleges.
A police car drives past the 500 block of St. Paul St. on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, where a 49-year-old woman from Northeast Baltimore was arrested last month and charged with fatally beating a city traffic worker during an argument over a parking spot.
Family of killed arabber protests after Baltimore officers cleared in shooting
The family of Bilal “BJ” Abdullah, an arabber killed by Baltimore Police this summer, are condemning the findings of state investigators who cleared the officers of any wrongdoing.
Joy Alston listens as loved ones speak about her late son, Bilal “BJ” Abdullah, during a press conference on Tuesday at the Avenue Market on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Most immigrants arrested in Maryland crackdowns have no criminal record
But contrary to the messaging from the president and his team, most of those arrested this year had no criminal history, according to a Banner analysis of newly released federal data.
In recent months, the gap between arrests of immigrants with and without criminal records has widened even further.
Load More Stories
Oh no!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes. If the problem persists, please contact customer service at 443-843-0043 or customercare@thebaltimorebanner.com.