Baltimore’s homicide rate is currently at its lowest in decades. 

According to Baltimore police, there have been 68 killings and 164 nonfatal shootings in the first six months of the year, a 22% and 19% decline over the same period the previous year. Mayor Brandon Scott stated that this is the lowest number of homicides recorded in Baltimore in more than 50 years.

Both figures exceed the city's Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan’s objective of a 15% annual reduction in gun violence, including both deadly and nonfatal incidents. Scott stated that the crime decrease was achieved through the plan's aims, which call for a public health approach to gun violence, promoting community participation and transparency in revealing quantifiable outcomes.

Stefanie Mavronis, head of the Mayor's Office for Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE), which is in charge of executing the strategy, said in a statement published by The Baltimore Banner that community-based initiatives and victim assistance have also proven helpful in preventing retaliation and revictimization.

“We have to institutionalize the efforts we know are making a difference so that we’re not just seeing one, two, or three years of reductions, but rather sustained decreases in violent crime for the foreseeable future,” Mavronis stated.

Scott congratulated MONSE, Baltimore police officers, regional law enforcement agencies, the city's State's Attorney's Office, and other local and state authorities for their efforts to reduce homicides.

However, he noted that there is still more work to be done.

“Our work is far from over. 68 lives lost to violence is 68 too many,” Scott said in a statement. “While we acknowledge the historic lows we are experiencing, we must simultaneously acknowledge that there is much more work to do and our success makes me commit even further to doing it.”