With 2 Weeks Left In 2020, Baltimore's Homicide Rate Remains Below Record-Setting 2019
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- With just under two weeks left in 2020, the number of homicides in Baltimore is slightly below that of 2019, which set a record for the most per-capita homicides in a single year in the city, data from the city's police department shows.
As of Friday morning, the city has recorded 319 homicide in 2020, down from 332 at the same time last year. By the end of 2019, the city saw 16 additional murders, bringing the total to 348.
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Non-fatal shootings are also down, with 696 reported in 2020 compared to 742 at the same point in 2019.
Still, late last month Baltimore passed the 300 murder threshold for the sixth consecutive year.
When he took office earlier this month, Mayor Brandon Scott said "the status quo cannot continue."
Scott said he will be dedicated to making city streets safer.
"The trauma and violence in our city is personal for you, just like it is for me," he said. "Reducing murders in our city will not be easy, but it's a challenge we must attack because we have to. Our crime-fighting strategies, clearly, have not yielded the results we need as we continue to lose too many people to violence. And those who are committing these acts remain comfortable on our streets. This is unacceptable and will change."