The recent uprising in Baltimore has put Martin O’Malley in a difficult spot. While preparing to launch a bid for president, the city’s former mayor has successfully cast himself as one of the most liberal contenders in the Democratic field — to the left of Hillary Clinton on issues both social and economic.

As Maryland’s governor, from 2007–2015, he signed bills legalizing gay marriage, ending the death penalty, raising the minimum wage, and funding education at a record level, partially with tax increases for top earners and corporations. But his chief credential — the foundation of his political career — is his claim that he made Baltimore’s crime rate plummet during his tenure as mayor, from 1999–2007.

The trouble is, his strategy involved “zero-tolerance” policing tactics that are both draconian and increasingly unpopular across the political spectrum. Nearly all his opponents in the 2016 race, from Clinton to Ted Cruz, have been scurrying to show support for policing and corrections reform.