Baltimore officials walk through communities looking to upgrade areas with blighted, vacant homes

BALTIMORE - The City of Baltimore created a pilot program to take an environmental approach to curb crime. 

It's called "Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design" (CPTED), which aims to reduce violence by upgrading blighted spaces within certain communities. 

On Thursday afternoon, Mayor Brandon Scott, along with several other Baltimore City officials walked through N. Smallwood Street in Northwest Baltimore. 

According to Baltimore City, the goal is to improve the quality of life for residents through cleaning, creating green spaces, upgrading lighting and demolishing or repurposing vacant homes and spaces. 

"There's been a lot of vacants in the city for a very long time," said resident Deborah Ruffin. "It's about time they're doing something."

The community walkthrough was held to highlight potential properties and lots in Western and Southern Baltimore police districts, where the Mayor's Office of Community Engagement is currently partnering with law enforcement to implement a neighborhood policing plan. 

Cutting down on immediate violence through the neighborhood policing plan combined with addressing quality of life issues, the Mayor's Office said the partnership hopes to improve public safety by tackling problems at their root. 

The initiative stems from the mayor's 30-day vacant review, a response to a vacant rowhome collapse in January that killed three firefighters and injured a fourth. 

City officials explained that a portion of Baltimore City's $100 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds was set aside to address housing inequity and transform neighborhoods.