Violence Is Also A Health Issue

Sharfstein and Beilenson not only understood that concept but also made it a priority. It's not just mindless paperwork - it's an attempt to understand the city's violent culture. Understand why people are shooting at each other, and you might understand the root causes and prevent it.

Safe Streets and other programs are largely funded with donations from foundations and private citizens, proof that people are still willing to pay to find innovative ways to curb violence and crime. The city's next health commissioner will find himself on the front lines of a battle Baltimore has been fighting and losing for decades, and he or she would be wise to continue what has been started.

In 1999, three years after the cops met with the lawmakers, they established the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, a task force of top law enforcement officials who meet once a month to discuss the city's problems. Not everyone agrees - cops want judges to be more strict, while the judges bristle at any attempt to influence their decisions from the bench.

But that everyone is talking shows there is at least some semblance of a plan. Beilenson, now the health officer in Howard County, told me that both he and Sharfstein view violence "as a public health issue and something that can be prevented. ... It's not just vaccinations and STD prevention, but it's looking at the major causes of mortality, injury, illness and death, and, obviously, drugs and crime and violence are part of the public health domain."

Let's hope Sharfstein's successor feels the same way.