McElderry's fatal shootings have fallen since 'Safe Streets' mediation

Webster wrote that "data revealed far less support for using gun violence to settle disputes" than in other neighborhoods, which he called "a major success and sign that the program is working." The report says counselors mediated 53 "high-stakes disputes and altercations."

But Webster also concedes that Operation Safe Streets began about the same time that Baltimore police sent in a violent crime task force to help police dangerous areas, and East Baltimore in 2008 recorded some of its lowest murder and shooting stats in years.

It is not easy to determine whether the boost in policing or counseling led to the declines. My guess is it is a little of both.

Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore's health commissioner, said he would like to expand Operation Safe Streets - it is now in McElderry Park and three other communities - but he acknowledged that with pending budget cuts, "the city and state are going to make that difficult."

It costs $350,000 a year to run the program in one police post. Sharfstein said they used a $1.5 million federal grant for startup and have $1 million from the city's mayor and about $700,000 in private donations. Combined with expected grants, "that only takes us to 2010," Sharfstein said.