Baltimore's "special tax districts" designated for supplemental security.

From Baltimore, Fox 45 brings to us the story of certain neighborhoods that charge a surtax to residents for the purpose of hiring private security to combat increased crime:

In Baltimore City there are four special tax districts where residents pay more to make their neighborhoods safer. Charles Village is one of them and has the lowest surtax of the four. It was formed in the mid-1990s as a way for the community to provide supplemental security and sanitation services to what the city was already providing. The surtax charged to homeowners has never been altered. Baltimore’s Little Italy community is one of the latest to seek to hire its own private security force, following the recent beating and robbery caught on a private security camera.

The story of this program in Baltimore's Little Italy is carried here. Only time will tell if such programs will spread to neighborhoods in other major cities. [Click here for CBS' story of private security being hired to patrol neighborhoods in Oakland.]