By Gus G. Sentementes , Sun reporter|February 02, 2008
Baltimore recorded fewer homicides last month than in any other January in 30 years, continuing a slowed pace of killings that began last summer. City leaders say that one death is tragic but that they hope the downturn will continue and erase the image of a city burdened by crime.
The 14 homicides last month were the fewest for the first month of the year since 1978, when there were 13, and half the number in January last year. There were 29 homicides in January 2006 and 32 in January 2005.
Law enforcement officials say it is too early to tell whether measures they have taken to deter gun violence have changed behavior on city streets, but they note that the 112 homicides in Baltimore since Aug. 1 are the fewest for that stretch since 1988.
FOR THE RECORD
In an article on Page 1A of yesterday's editions of The Sun about the drop in homicides during the past month, the headline mistakenly referred to January 2007 rather than January 2008.
The Sun regrets the error.
"Now is not the time to sit back and bask in six months' worth of accomplishment," Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said in an interview yesterday. "Now is the time to push harder.
"Have people lost their will for violence? Are people getting the message? Is there a shift in culture? I just don't think so - not this quickly. We're talking about a city with a history of violence that goes back for quite some time."
Mayor Sheila Dixon said the numbers are positive but "nothing to celebrate."
"One death is too many," she said. "What this tells us is that for the last eight months, a plan has been in place that focuses on the most violent offenders, and that it's working."
Dixon and law enforcement officials pointed to better collaboration in recent months among police, prosecutors and other local, state and federal agencies, which have become more focused on reducing homicides and gun crimes.
As homicides and nonfatal shootings declined in the last half of 2007, city police spent $4.7 million less on overtime than in the corresponding period in 2006.
"There is no disconnect in what the mission is," Dixon said. "The police are out there, and they're visible. All these are factors, but we all have a long way to go, and we're going to continue to build on this."
Sharp swings in violent crime patterns in many U.S. cities have been common in recent years, according to a study released in November by the Police Executive Research Forum.
Richard Rosenfeld, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said Baltimore's recent downturn in homicides and shootings reflects the sharp swings in other cities, including St. Louis.
