Bealefeld is particularly pleased with a drop in robberies citywide, which he says could be an outgrowth of the city's focus on violent offenders. Gun crimes are down sharply, with fewer assaults and robberies with guns. He thinks the drop in those crimes is directly related to a similar drop in shootings, which are down 21 percent.
"We know that a fair percentage of those shootings in some of the communities in the city evolve out of robberies gone bad," Bealefeld said. The drop in robberies is "helping take what we did last year to the next level."
The city had just one homicide over a two-week span this month, an accomplishment for a city that typically sees two people killed every three days. But the holiday weekend brought four deaths, including 18-year-old Chernere Wooten, who was fatally shot in the head in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday.
On Sunday night, with many people outside enjoying the weather, bar goers on a popular strip of Charles Street stepped around police tape and a blood-soaked T-shirt. Police say a 43-year-old man was stabbed by a group of people a block away. At last report, the man was in critical condition.
Many residents say they don't feel any safer in the city, and there is widespread distrust of police numbers. As Brittney Brooks walked by police tape still dangling from a post near where the stabbing occurred, the 22-year-old said she believes crime is selectively reported.
"With all the shootings, stabbings and robberies you hear about, things just don't seem any different," she said. "The most important things is murder, and if that's up, that's a negative change."
Baltimore crime trends so far in 2009
* Total crime: Down 9 percent
* Gun crime: Down 17 percent
* Property crime: Down 9 percent
* Vehicle break-ins: Up 12 percent
