NEWS
By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun | November 5, 2012
With three more murders over the weekend , Baltimore has virtually no chance of continued improvement in the city's homicide rate. There have been 187 people killed so far this year, as of Sunday. Last year Baltimore saw 196 murders, the lowest total since the late 1970s and, adjusting for population change, the lowest murder rate since the late 1980s. The city would need to see nine homicides from this point on to match last year's number. But just once since 1970 has the city recorded less than 10 homicides in the month of November or December, let alone nine total to close the year. A positive takeaway for this year would be a continued decline in the number of non-fatal shootings, which were down 5 percent as of the most recent update on Oct. 27. If that holds, Baltimore would record about 360 non-fatal shootings this year, compared with 651 just five years ago and 419 in 2010. jfenton@baltsun.com
NEWS
July 4, 2012
Last week's report that Baltimore's population continues to shrink was not good news but hardly surprising, given the city's history. The drop was modest compared to the residential losses Baltimore has experienced in years past, but more importantly, the U.S. Census statistics contained ample evidence of a potentially brighter future ahead. That's because many U.S. cities are on the rebound. The same Census figures that show Baltimore lost about 1,500 people in the year ending last July also revealed that more than half of the country's 51 largest metropolitan areas saw greater growth within their city limits than in their suburbs.
NEWS
By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun | June 11, 2012
For the first time in years, Baltimore has fallen out of the top five in national murder rate, according to statistics for 2011 compiled by the FBI and released Monday. Baltimore saw a 12 percent decline in murders last year, with the total dropping below 200 for the first time since 1978. Taking population changes into account, the murder rate per 100,000 people was the lowest since the late 1980s. Meanwhile, the number of reported rapes jumped significantly, to levels not seen since 2000.
NEWS
By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun | June 7, 2012
Angela Holland seems to know just about everyone in her North Baltimore neighborhood. She jokes with a guy hanging out of the window of an apartment high-rise. She consoles the deli counter man at the East 25th Street corner store, who's distraught about losing his mother two years ago. Without saying a word, she slips a few quarters to a man sitting on a stoop, who in turn hands her a cigarette. These folks know her. And some of the people in this neighborhood, she suspects, also know who killed her son, 22-year-old Jerry Isaac.
NEWS
By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun | May 3, 2012
Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, the longest-serving commissioner in the city's recent history and who oversaw steep declines in the city's murder rate, is stepping down, the mayor's office announced. Bealefeld's retirement date is effective August 1, the sources said, but he still stay on and oversee a transition. A senior aide to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Bealefeld informed of her of his decision today and said he wanted to spend more time with his family.
NEWS
March 19, 2012
The Sun should be commended for publishing such an extensive article on the "right to carry" laws in Maryland and putting it in clear terms that anyone can understand ("Gun laws' sketchy effect," March 11). The bottom line, according to the academics, is that restrictions or a lack of restrictions make no difference. However, it's complicated because on one hand, "the right to carry" concealed guns does decrease the murder rates and on the other hand, "the right to carry" will "slightly increase the number of aggravated assaults.