On Tuesday, the Baltimore Police Department sent out a news release reporting significant drops in crime categories from April 2023 to April 2024. These news releases arrive from time to time – whenever the BPD has good news to report. (They do not arrive when crime is on the rise.) I’m sure some will call this a political release, with a week to go until the primary election and Mayor Brandon Scott campaigning for a second term. His detractors claim that the significant decline in homicides has “nothing to do with the mayor,” when we have typically blamed or credited all mayors with crime increases or decreases.
I’m not sure the major news organizations, including my own, are going to report the April-to-April trends. But here are the year-over-year numbers, from the BPD news release:
Homicides are down 38% year-to-date through April. Non-fatal shootings are down 25% year-to-date through April.
Looking at April 2024 vs. April 2023, almost all crime categories are down year-over-year:
Violent crime is down 20%.
Rape is down 30%.
Car-jackings are down 57%.
Auto Theft is down 20%.
All robberies are down 17%.
Property crime is down 10%.
For the month of April, all crimes were down 13%.
The January through April 2024 data is promising, as well.
January through April, all violent crime is down 9%. Carjackings are down 12%, commercial robberies are down 11%, aggravated assault is down 13%, arson is down 20% and larceny is down 6%.
From January through April, we are also seeing improved arrest and seizure data.
In that time frame, we had more than 200 robbery arrests, more than 230 stolen auto arrests and more than 870 guns seized.
Additionally, our homicide clearance rate is up dramatically to 70.5% vs. 40% at this time last year. The non-fatal clearance rate is 48.3% compared to 33.8%.
The BPD recognizes that while these numbers are trending in the right direction, there is always more work to do. We are committed to our community policing efforts, efficient deployment strategies and removing the bad actors and their illegal weapons from our streets.
As we head into the summer months, the warm weather and large-scale events bring with them extra challenges and we have faith that BPD officers can meet those challenges head-on.
Together, we can achieve a safer Baltimore.
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Dan Rodricks 
Thanks for this news, Dan. These days any good news regarding local communities is a sweet treat to an avid news reader like myself. Diane
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
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It is interesting that both Ms. Dixon and Mayor Scott have TV commercials proclaiming that under their administrations the homicide rate dropped precipitously.
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Great news, Dan! I hope these trends continue and it seems the current mayor has leaned on the police to improve their performance. I don’t live in Baltimore City, but even though I was highly skeptical of him initially, he seems to be fostering the encouraging numbers you quoted. If I did live in the city as we did years ago, I would likely vote for him…
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some people may not like him no matter what, probably has the votes to get re-elected
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relying solely on percentages can potentially mask underlying issues or disparities within specific crime categories. A 50% decrease in carjackings might seem substantial, but going from 2000 carjackings to 1000 is still an awful and unsafe situation.
Providing the absolute numbers alongside percentages would offer a more comprehensive understanding of the situation. It would allow readers to assess the effectiveness of crime-reduction strategies and identify areas that still require attention.
Also some of the terms seems vague and require more definition, what exactly is classified as ‘Violent crime’ and what doesnt’ fall under that category.
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