Category: Opinion

February Eclipses January in Number of Homicides

After Baltimore City authorities celebrated that January of 2016 didn’t have as many homicides as January of 2015, and that it was the first month since April 2015 without 27 or more homicides, a series of incidents have pushed February 2016 past February 2015 in the number of homicides. A double homicide on Saturday, February 20, pushed the number of homicides this month to 16. Then, a stabbing this morning brought it up to 17.

With a week to go in the month, the rate of homicides per day for February is now 0.81 homicides per day. It was 0.45 homicides per day in January. (Two incidents in January, one stabbing and one shooting, were ruled out as homicides and classified as suicides: one intentional and one accidental.) So it will be interesting to see how Baltimore City authorities, like the Mayor and Police Commissioner, will spin these new numbers.

We’ll give a February update on March 1. You can read our January update here.

2015 Homicides In Review

Aside from being a record year, 2015 had no weeks without a homicide. There was even a stretch of 13 days with at least one homicide each day. Morning was the calmest time of day for homicides. Most of the victims were in the 25-35 age group. And 87% of victims were killed by firearm.

As plenty of news organizations have reported, 2015 was one of the deadliest years on record in Baltimore with regard to homicides. Using data published on Baltimore City’s Open Data site and Cham’s Page, here are some numbers we’ve put together for 2015:

  • There were a total of 344 reported homicides for a rate of 55.1 homicides per 100,000 residents. This would make Baltimore the deadliest city in America based on per capita rates.

WHEN? Continue reading “2015 Homicides In Review”

2015 Homicides and Police Cameras

You would think that there would be little to no homicides occurring within a certain distance from a police camera. You would be wrong. Cameras are specifically put in dangerous places, so dangerous things are going to happen whether the camera is there or not.

Below is a map a friend of mine created from data available from Baltimore City. It doesn’t contain all homicides in 2015. (It will be updated as soon as all the cases are added to the public database.) It contains homicides up to December 12, 2015. It also contains the locations (black diamonds) of Baltimore Police Department crime cameras. Finally, the police district names were overlaid on the map as well.

It’s easy to think that there is some sort of correlation between the location of cameras and the location of homicides. Some believe that the two data points overlap, so the cameras do not work. Other believe that there is enough of a difference between the location of the cameras and the location of the homicides, so the cameras work (somewhat). Continue reading “2015 Homicides and Police Cameras”

The End of A Record-Breaking Year in Homicides for Baltimore

With a homicide rate well above that seen during the crack-cocaine epidemic — and the ensuing drug war — 2015 is going down in the record books for the number of homicides in Baltimore. With well over 50 homicides per 100,000 residents this year, Baltimore is now among the 20 most violent cities in the world, and will likely reign as the most violent city in the United States, ahead of Detroit, St. Louis, and New Orleans.

This year has been record-breaking for Baltimore when it comes to the homicide rate. As of 10pm tonight, 344 people have been killed in Baltimore, and their deaths have been ruled or are suspected homicides. According to The Baltimore Sun and Cham’s Page, both of whom keep track of the homicides so far, the average age of a homicide victim this year was about 30. Also, the 600 block of Willow Avenue, the 900 block of West Fayette Street, and  the 1200 block of North Caroline Stree have seen the most homicides, with three each. Eighteen other blocks saw two homicides each. Continue reading “The End of A Record-Breaking Year in Homicides for Baltimore”

Baltimore Is On Pace to End 2015 With About 245 Homicides

As 2015 closes, the homicide rate in Baltimore is about to break a record. The homicide rate has not been this high in recorded history, and it is higher than the rate seen in the 1980’s and 1990’s, when Baltimore saw the worst of the crack cocaine epidemic.

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. Continue reading “Baltimore Is On Pace to End 2015 With About 245 Homicides”