At the beginning of 2015, it was hard to believe that Baltimore would have one of its worst years with regards to homicides. After all, homicide rates were trending downward all over the United States. In 2011, there were 197 homicides in Baltimore (a rate of 31.7 homicides per 100,000 residents), a number not seen in a long time.
Something happened in Baltimore right around April, however. That analysis is going to have to wait and be performed by experts because it could have been a number of reasons that drove the increase in shootings and resulting homicides. Nevertheless, with three days to go in 2015, Baltimore has crossed the 340 homicide mark for a rate of 54.8 homicides per 100,000 residents.
(These data were obtained from The Baltimore Sun’s web page on homicide counts.)
Baltimore Homicide Analysis 