"I think that way of thinking is starting to go through the ranks and how the police go about their business," he said.
Officials with the city state's attorney's office and the Maryland Division of Parole and Probation said they are working more closely with each other and with the city Police Department.
Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for the city state's attorney's office, credited Dixon with helping improve communication between prosecutors, police and City Hall, relationships that had grown strained under the O'Malley administration.
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.
"It's beyond better," Burns said. "It's really so exciting and positive. I have not seen this level of cooperation in the past. We've been moving in this direction, but over the last several months there's a new level of trust between our agencies."
Burns said city prosecutors have pushed harder for higher bail - or no bail - for criminals caught with guns, which has helped keep violent offenders locked up until trial. She also credited the expanding influence of Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein, whose federal prosecutors have aggressively pursued repeat violent offenders through a program called Project Exile.
Patrick McGee, acting director of the state Division of Parole and Probation, said his agency was asked by the O'Malley administration early last year to sharpen its focus on the offenders it tracked who were involved with gun crimes. Last summer, the division reviewed its caseload of violent offenders and worked closely with a consultant and city police to determine trends among victims and killers who had been under supervision, he said.
gus.sentementes@baltsun.com
Sun reporter Nick Madigan contributed to this article.
