Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates made a bold prediction, suggesting the city’s homicide rate could drop below 200 this year.
Bates spoke at a budget hearing Thursday morning before the Baltimore City Council Ways and Means Committee, citing some encouraging numbers showing declines in violent crime and increases in prosecutions. Bates said the current pacing for homicide in 2024 is 181.
“One is too many, but to see now that the hard work is starting to pay off,” Bates said.
The last time Baltimore City recorded less than 200 homicides was in 2011. Bates credited partnerships, innovative violence reduction strategies and his office’s “get tough” approach to crime.
“We are the enforcers. We are the accountability. We are saying clearly, ‘If you are going to be a felon and you are carrying an illegal handgun,’ I said, ‘bring a toothbrush.’ That is not something I just said. It is something that we meant,” Bates said.
Bates supported his bold prediction with stats, saying from 2022 to 2023, his office took 390 violent offenders off the street, there were fewer repeat offenders because first-time offenders were sentenced to jail time, homicide convictions increased by 38%, and the transfer of firearm cases to federal officials increased by 26%.
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