Image 01 Image 03

Baltimore Broke its Record For Homicides in 2015

Baltimore Broke its Record For Homicides in 2015

Highest number since 1993.

The city of Baltimore reached a grim milestone in 2015 by racking up more homicides in one year than ever before.

Kevin Rector reported at The Baltimore Sun:

Deadliest year in Baltimore history ends with 344 homicides

Blood was shed in Baltimore at an unprecedented pace in 2015, with mostly young, black men shot to death in a near-daily crush of violence.

On a per-capita basis, the year was the deadliest ever in the city. The year’s tally of 344 homicides was second only to the record 353 in 1993, when Baltimore had about 100,000 more residents.

The killings were on pace with recent years in the early months of 2015 but skyrocketed after the unrest and rioting of late April. In five of the next eight months, killings topped 30 or 40 a month.

Nearly 90 percent of the year’s homicides were the result of shootings, renewing calls for new gun laws. Counting nonfatal shootings, gun violence was up more than 75 percent compared to last year, with more than 900 people shot.

More than 90 percent of the homicide victims this year were boys or men, more than 90 percent were black, and more than half were between the ages of 18 and 30 — reflecting an urban reality that residents and civil rights activists say is devoid of legitimate job opportunities and caught up in the often-violent drug trade.

Many victims were gunned down in the street, often in broad daylight. Others were innocent bystanders struck by bullets fired indiscriminately into crowds. Nearly two dozen were children, many of them toddlers.

While that’s sad news, there is some irony in the part about a “renewed call for new gun laws.”

Jazz Shaw makes the point perfectly at Hot Air:

Perhaps someone could ask Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake what she thinks of the current state of gun laws. Or possibly the better question would be to ask her latest Chief of Police how many of the guns they’ve managed to confiscate from the killers they’ve brought to justice were purchased legally.

I can tell you that the FBI already has a pretty good idea and on a good day it might be between six and eight percent of them. The rest were stolen or purchased on the black market by people who don’t go through background checks or stand on line at a sporting goods store to make sure that they’re law abiding citizens.

Josh Siegel of The Daily Signal provides some further analysis:

What Rising Murder Rates in US Cities Mean for 2016

The 2015 year in crime was marked by a sharp rise in murder rates in many U.S. cities, including those touched by high-profile incidents between police and citizens, such as Baltimore and Chicago.

But the rate of crime overall in America’s largest cities declined in 2015 (as of Dec. 23) compared to the year before, to a level half of what it was in 1990.

This contrast, while not abnormal, has criminologists split on its significance heading into a new year, when attention to police-community interactions, and the broader criminal justice system, promises to be especially intense.

Many in Congress are hoping early this year to act on legislation to reduce prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders.

“The policy takeaway is that there is not a national crime or murder wave, so if people are still pursuing criminal justice reforms, they should be able to do so without thinking there is evidence of a debilitating crime wave,” said Inimai Chettiar, referencing a report she oversaw conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.

Republicans would be wise to run on the promise of returning to law and order.

DONATE

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.

Comments

“Many in Congress are hoping early this year to act on legislation to reduce prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders.”

And THAT is something all conservatives should have on their radar, as much of the emphasis for reform is based on pure Collectivist mythology. Read Heather Mac Donald to catch up.

And, to the extent “criminologists” are “confused” about the cause >>>> effect relationship in places like B’more and Ferguson…well, you just can’t “unconfuse” the obdurately, intentionally stupid.

    http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/president-obama-grants-commutations-and-pardons-1
    You’ll find 12 of obama’s released prisoners had guns during the commission of their crimes. Mostly those “non violent” drug offenders. Who were usually pushing drugs, not just plain old users.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35138647
    More than 47,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2014 – the most ever recorded in one year, US officials say.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report on Friday that showed overdose deaths jumped 7% from just one year earlier.

    The spike in deaths has coincided with a rapid rise in the abuse of opioid-based prescription painkillers such as oxycontin and hydrocodone.
    The CDC said 61% of the deaths involved some type of opioid, including heroin.

    Many abusers of painkillers shift to using heroin as it becomes harder to obtain the prescription medications.

“Blood was shed in Baltimore at an unprecedented pace in 2015, with mostly young, black men shot to death by other young black men in a near-daily crush of violence.”

FTFT!

if black lives matter, why don’t they act like it?

Our beloved mayor wants to give rioters a “safe place to destroy.” Perhaps this extends to a “safe place to slaughter.”

With the current job participation rate as it is, the released “nonviolent drug offenders” will go back home with a record and remain unemployed. To make ends meet they will return to doing/selling drugs.

Those who buy drugs need cash, so burglaries, home invasions, car thefts, bank robberies and violent crimes increase. The nonviolent become aggressive and acutely so under know-it-all Progressivism.

Is there a Darwin award for cities? The sad thing is that 22 of the 344 were under 18. Of this group many there were babies, toddlers, and little children. A terrible statistic.

    userpen in reply to amwick. | January 5, 2016 at 11:39 am

    Police kill black thugs = everybody cries, the city goes berserk, marching, looting, burning.

    Black thugs kill black babies, toddlers and little children = only their mothers cry, business as usual.

    How terrible! When will this ever change? When they stop supporting thugs and start supporting the police.

    But before this can happen, a question must be answered: Who is the enemy? Black thugs or the police?

Char Char Binks | January 5, 2016 at 10:26 am

I had faith in you Baltimore. I knew you could do it! Here’s hoping for a new record in 2016!

Lucien Cordier | January 5, 2016 at 10:34 am

And remember, the “Ferguson effect” is a myth.

They should be like Seattle and create an ammunition tax, which is a tax on the poor….. poor aim.

As if new laws will have an effect on those who spend time violating laws. Talk about not having a clue how to solve problems.

American Human | January 5, 2016 at 12:03 pm

I’m curious how many of the 344 killings/murders have been solved.
Of the over 900 shootings, how many people have been charged/tried/convicted etc.?
A number of years ago, when Marion Barry was mayor of DC, the solve rate for murders was less than 10% making DC a great place to kill someone.