The short answer is both.
When the clock struck midnight on Dec. 31, Baltimore closed the books on 2008 with 234 homicides–its fewest in two decades. That’s certainly encouraging, but we can’t lose track of the fact that 234 lives were needlessly lost.
Last year saw an 18% drop in homicides from 2007, when 282 people died by the hand of another. Murder is an epidemic that has plagued the city for years and contributed mightily to its negative national reputation.
A Longtime Problem:
The rise in Baltimore's homicide scourge coincided with its emergence as one of the heroin markets on the east coast. The problem was at its worst in the early 1990s. In 1993 there were a record-high 353 homicides, nearly seven times the national rate, six times the rate of New York City.
Crime Barometer:
Politicians and the media often use the murder rate as a barometer to gauge overall crime in the city–but that may be a mistake. While the homicide rate declined last year, violent crime remained stagnant, robbery with guns jumped 9% and overall crime climbed 1%.
“A lot of the focus is around the homicide number,” Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld told the Baltimore Examiner. “It’s the galvanizing crime of Baltimore. It is the issue that people make their first-blush judgment about your effectiveness.”
So while this news represents an improvement over the status quo, it’s hardly anything to celebrate.
Violent Crime:
“We took a hit on robberies, and I think we can do better on that issue,” Bealefeld said.
The police department has tried to combat violent crime by targeting the most violent offenders and those with prior handgun violations. A new unit, called the Violent Crimes Impact Division, sent hundreds of officers to West and East Baltimore, where some of the more notable homicide reductions have been achieved, according to The Sun.
Progress, Challenges In The Western District:
Nearly 90 people were killed in the city’s Western District in 1992, a number that fell to 23 last year. It had not recorded fewer than 32 homicides in a year since at least 1970.
But while the district recorded the largest drop in homicides of any district, shootings rose and robberies rose by 37%.
Fickle Success:
The first eight days of 2009 showed just how fickle success can be for the police department. There were 11 homicides in that short time period.
The 11th was recorded on Jan. 8, when police found two men on a sidewalk at North Bond and East Eager streets in East Baltimore. The dead man had been shot multiple times. The other man had been shot in the face and was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was in serious condition, said Officer Troy Harris, a police spokesman.
A third man was shot in the leg and was found in a house, police said. He was in good condition yesterday at Hopkins, Harris said.
Police said they knew of no motive and had no suspects in the shootings.
The spike in deadly violence serves as a stark reminder that while 2008 certainly showed progress, the battle is far from over.
