Dice Games have History of Leading to Violence in Baltimore City

BALTIMORE (WBFF) - A dice game almost turned deadly Tuesday morning after police say a suspect shot five people including three teenagers.

It's not the first time a game of dice has turned violent.

In 2015, a 9-year-old girl was shot after neighbors say a dispute broke out over the location of a dice game.

Last June, police say three people were shot after a fight over dice.

The next month a man was sentenced to life in prison for murdering a man during a dice game two years earlier.

Former Deputy Police Commissioner Jason Johnson says dice games ,which are illegal, often get heated.

"If you lose at a dice game or a card game in particular, or feel that you've been cheated that's going to make emotions run high and sometimes it could cost someone, particularly somebody who is already illegally carrying a firearm, to engage in an act of violence," he said.

After the Freddie Gray riots, a report from the U.S. Department of Justice in 2016 called out the Baltimore Police Department for its enforcement of gambling laws and other quality of life offenses that Johnson says the DOJ felt were being over emphasized in enforcement.

The report says from 2010-2015 the Baltimore Police Department charged 657 people with "gaming" or playing "cards or dice" saying once police even spotted a group of men playing dice from their Foxtrot helicopter and arrested one of them.

"It ultimately led to a paragraph in the consent decree that restricts BPD's ability to enforce gambling laws," he said.

Johnson says the consent decree calls for police to issue a warning first and then requires supervisory approval before making an arrest.

"Quite likely the results of that is that those offenses that fall within the quality of life offense including gambling are really being de-emphasized and de-prioritized by BPD as they go about their daily efforts to keep the streets safe," he said.

We asked police what their policy is on street gaming and if they keep track of the number of people charged with such an offense.

A spokesperson said the department does not have a policy on gambling but officers will issue a citation or make an arrest if an officer receives a call for gambling or witnesses a game.