To people whose loved ones were among the 263 people killed last year in the city, the positive trend is bittersweet.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Long plagued by rampant gun violence, Baltimore recorded less than 300 homicides last year for the first time in nearly a decade, ending a
“There’s much more work to be done,” Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said. “I think we’ve shown over the last couple years that we can both reduce crime and reform a police department at the same time.”
Nonfatal shootings also decreased about 7% last year, according to Baltimore police data, while gun violence soared in neighboring Washington, D.C.
Baltimore homicide detectives solved about 45% of their cases in 2023, a modest increase from the year before despite a deepening manpower shortage that has severely impacted the unit, agency leaders said. Nationwide, the homicide clearance rate hovers between 50% and 60%.
While clearing cases brings families closure and helps build public trust, officials said, the issue of curbing gun violence extends far beyond solid policework.
“Police are not going to solve this problem alone. There’s just no way,” Director Steven Dettelbach of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said following a Baltimore news conference Thursday morning.
Targeted enforcement is key, said U.S. Attorney for Maryland Erek L. Barron. He said police and prosecutors are using their limited resources to go after a relatively small number of known trigger pullers.
Local, state and federal law enforcement leaders touted their collective work to target Baltimore’s most violent offenders, dismantle drug trafficking organizations and seize illegal guns.
Baltimore police are building stronger gun cases, in part because they are working with federal investigators and using ballistics technology to trace individual firearms. In turn, prosecutors are charging more gun cases in federal court, where defendants often face harsher penalties, they said.
About six months after Scott took office in December 2020, he released a five-year plan he hoped would reduce Baltimore gun violence by 15% annually. He created a new office to oversee anti-violence efforts, including the city’s flagship Safe Streets program, which employs conflict mediators with credibility and knowledge of the streets.
The plan also includes a Group Violence Reduction Strategy, which is still being rolled out. It relies on a collaboration between Baltimore police and community groups to target potential shooters and victims, offering them services and support, including employment opportunities, therapy and life coaching. Similar initiatives have seen success in other cities.
While the numbers are promising, city officials and community leaders acknowledged the gaping shortfall that remains when it comes to meeting the needs of young Black men from Baltimore’s poorest and most overlooked neighborhoods. Most perpetrators of violence grow up in poverty and attend underperforming schools. Signs of the local drug trade are all around them and vacant houses line their streets.
For Brunetta Phair, whose older brother was shot and killed last spring, the city’s recent progress has brought her family little comfort.
“It’s still not enough,” she said. “I understand the numbers are going down, but it’s just not enough.”
Clifton Phair, 59, died May 10 from multiple gunshot wounds, according to police. A Baltimore native, he joined the military after high school and left behind two adult children, his sister said.
“He came home from work, stopped to talk to his neighbor and ended up dead,” Brunetta Phair said. She attended Wednesday’s vigil to honor her brother’s memory and remind city officials that his family is still waiting for answers as the case remains unsolved.
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