Baltimore, Maryland, is sadly, one of those towns that doesn’t have much appreciation for law enforcement. In 2020, they cut an astounding $22 million from the police budget, and that summer, City Hall was surrounded by crowds of protesters demanding that all funding for city police be cut.
On Tuesday, two Maryland Transportation Authority officers, realizing that the MV Dali was about to hit the Francis Scott Key bridge, acted fast to close the bridge and doubtlessly saved lives. The Western Journal contributor and former Republican campaign worker Rachel M. Emmanuel described how it’s certain no throngs of people will turn out to recognize their feat.
The impact from the massive cargo vessel caused the entire 1.6-mile-long bridge to catastrophically collapse.
According to The Baltimore Banner, the Dali sent a distress signal as it began to lose power, which was picked up by the Coast Guard.
Maryland Transportation Authority Police then stepped in to contain the situation.
The officers were monitoring the stricken container ship Dali as it experienced a power failure and drifted disastrously off course towards the Key Bridge.
She continued:
At 1:27 a.m., a call came over the dispatch radio that the Singapore-flagged Dali cargo vessel had lost steering and was on a collision course with the bridge. “There’s a ship approaching that just lost their steering. So until they get that under control we gotta stop all traffic,” the dispatch officer stated over the radio.
A second officer quickly moved into position on the south end and successfully stopped northbound traffic.
These two officers have not (yet) been named, but we can hope that they will get the recognition they deserve for quick thinking and quick action in a terrible circumstance.
Previously on RedState: NEW: MV Dali Lost Propulsion Before Crashing Into Baltimore Bridge; Had Prior Crash in 2016
UPDATE: Six Presumed Dead in Baltimore Bridge Collapse, Search and Rescue Efforts Suspended
Sadly, there was no time to get a pothole-repair crew off the bridge before it fell into the water.
At approximately 1:28 a.m., one of the officers said, “Is there a crew working on the bridge right now?”
“Just make sure no one’s on the bridge right now. … If there’s a crew up there, you might want to notify whoever the foreman is to see if we can get them off the bridge temporarily,” he added.
Another officer offered to ride up and tell the workers, but there was no time.
Baltimore, as a city, has not dealt fairly with its police force in the last few years. Granted, these officers serve the state of Maryland, not the city of Baltimore, but the observation applies. Consider what it must be like to be a police officer in a large metropolitan area right now, what risks they face, and what a thankless task they face every day. Yes, of course, there are bad officers, and they must be called out and suitably dealt with when they have it coming. But there are also good officers, brave officers who, given an unexpected and horrendous calamity literally happening before their eyes, will still determine what must be done – and they do it, without hesitation.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore has recognized their efforts, and the New York Post lauded their efforts on the front page.
The Maryland Gov. Wes Moore credited the quick work of the two police officers in blocking off access and stopping traffic from entering the bridge with saving “numerous lives.”
Today’s cover: How hero cops stopped Baltimore drivers seconds before ship smash: ‘The bridge is down! https://t.co/lbx7FX1UQI pic.twitter.com/KbqgNH1Ken
— New York Post (@nypost) March 27, 2024
If there is any justice in the world, the rest of the state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore will have just a little more appreciation for officers like these going forward – and maybe, just maybe, forget this “defund the police” talk.
