Tag: 2015

Baltimore is the 19th most violent city in the world

The annual list of most violent cities in the world has been released, and Baltimore is again in it. While St. Louis took the top spot for American cities, and 15th overall, Baltimore was not far behind in 19th place.

The report was published by a Mexican violence “observatory,” an office within a violence prevention organization. The “Citizen Council for Public Safety and Penal Justice” operates out of Mexico City and uses very sound methodology to make a determination of the ranking of these cities. They use published media reports, independent tracking of cases, and official estimates to come up with the list.

Other notable bullet points from the report:

  • Caracas, Venezuela, is now the most violent city in the world.
  • 41 of the 50 most violent cities are in Latin America.
  • 5 of the 50 cities are in Mexico.
  • Medellin, Colombia, and Juarez, Mexico, are not on the list for 2015.

You can read the whole report by 2016_01_25_seguridad_justicia_y_paz-50_most_violent_cities_2015. (Some parts are in Spanish.)

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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”