WATCH: Baltimore’s steep drop in violent crime buoyed by locking up career criminals, street patrols

BALTIMORE — Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, upon taking office in 2023, told the city’s most hardened criminals to keep a toothbrush on them so they would be move-in ready for their future jail stints. Two years later, he is making good on that promise.

The top prosecutor’s focus on arresting the city’s gun-toting repeat offenders has broken the cycle of simmering beefs turning into deadly shootings.

The Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office has sent deputies into neighborhoods to assist with public safety, complementing a stronger Baltimore Police Department patrol network.

The two-pronged strategy has resulted in a generational decline in violent crime in Baltimore, which is reversing its reputation as one of the nation’s most crime-ridden cities. For Mr. Bates, plenty of toothbrushes are being brought into the city jail.

“On the adult side, we knew that about 5,000 violent individuals were pulling the trigger in Baltimore City — maybe 5,000 to 6,000 — and we need to take as many of those individuals off the streets as quickly as possible,” Mr. Bates told The Washington Times. “We’ve taken about 2,500 of them off the streets.”

A subtle sense of public safety is now permeating Charm City.

Last week, bus passengers waiting at the corner of North Paca and West Saratoga streets were focused on their phones rather than fearing vagrants across the street would wander over to ask them for money.

Further west in the Lexington neighborhood, a man with his head under the hood was working on his car in a light but steady rain without paying mind to people walking past him.

It’s a stark turnaround for a city that 10 years ago was enveloped in chaos. Public outrage over the police custody death of Freddie Gray, 25, in 2015 discouraged officers on patrol and emboldened State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby to treat criminal defendants with leniency.

The crime rate exploded. Throughout the eight-year tenure of Mosby, a beneficiary of liberal billionaire George Soros’ campaign finance operation, the annual homicide rate in Baltimore never dipped below 300. Mosby is now under supervised release after being convicted of perjury and mortgage fraud last year.

Mr. Bates said the “rock bottom” moment motivated the public to support his ascent. Once in office, he wasted no time in pursuing criminals.

Baltimore’s sharp drop in homicides coincides with Mr. Bates’ time as state’s attorney. Police data shows that the city’s homicide rate fell to 261 by the end of his first year in office. As 2024 came to a close, the rate was 201. The 56 homicides recorded so far this year puts the city on track for the lowest rate since at least 2011.

Police statistics show violent crime is down 18% so far this year, with sizable drops in nonfatal shootings (25%), rapes (33%), assaults (14%) and robberies and carjackings (16%).

The top prosecutor isn’t the only law enforcement official bringing a new playbook.

Baltimore City Sheriff Samuel L. Cogen, taking office in late 2022, ordered his deputies to leave their desks and hit the streets.

The sheriff said he wants communities throughout Baltimore to feel their presence, particularly on weekend nights when criminal activity is more likely to rise.

“By activating the sheriff’s office, we added a medium-sized law enforcement agency that’s helping in the crime fight in the city, like from a policing function, which you haven’t seen before,” Sheriff Cogen told The Times.

These improvements have caught national attention. U.S. News & World Report dropped Baltimore from its annual rankings of the top 25 “Most Dangerous Places in the U.S.” Mayor Brandon Scott, a Democrat, shared that tidbit to raucous applause during his annual State of the City address this spring.

As major crimes nosedive, police and prosecutors have turned their attention to the juvenile offenders who continue to unnerve Baltimore residents.

Last month, police said, two teenage boys attacked an 82-year-old woman at a community garden in the Mid-Govans neighborhood before carrying out a strong-arm robbery of another woman for her car keys. Authorities said they arrested a 16- and 17-year-old boy in connection with the assaults.

The state’s attorney’s office said a group of teens fractured the jaw of a woman whom they jumped in a carjacking attempt near the Inner Harbor.

A 17-year-old girl was charged as an adult with attempted carjacking and assault after her release on an ankle monitor. The other juveniles detained in the attack were released because the woman could not identify them.

Police said they arrested a 15-year-old boy linked to the shooting of another teen boy in Greektown late last month. The boy also shot himself when he was handling the gun, police said.

Mr. Bates criticized the state Department of Juvenile Services for giving the young defendants lax punishments.

The state’s attorney said juveniles arrested go from the police station to the Department of Juvenile Services, circumventing his office and the judge’s chambers.

Mr. Bates said the Department of Juvenile Services claims to pursue what’s in the “best interest of the child.” However, that is often interpreted as advocating for placing the “least restrictive means possible” on the underage offenders. He said the system creates a “revolving door” effect on the minors who wind up in handcuffs.

“The first few months of this year, we had 131 young people, juveniles, who were arrested for what we call the felony types of crimes,” Mr. Bates said. “However, 100 were released, and so they may be released on an ankle bracelet or they may be released in some other form. That’s like 23% [kept behind bars]. It’s very low. So these young people are then going right back into the community, and some of them are doing that same behavior.”

Mr. Bates said he has been pushing for the state to let prosecutors and judges handle the cases, not for the Department of Juvenile Services to serve as the sole gatekeepers.

Sheriff Cogen said nagging quality-of-life crimes keep people from feeling completely at ease in Baltimore.

He said packages swiped from porches, broken car windows and menacing panhandling keep residents on edge.

“We really have to focus on the livability of the city,” Sheriff Cogen said. “Do people feel safe moving from point A to point B, and safe in public spaces where no one’s going to come up and accost them and they feel like they’re comfortable? We’re still working on that.”

Mr. Bates’ office has made prosecutions for quality-of-life offenses a focal part of its mission. The city is also launching initiatives to scare away petty criminals where they can.

Last week, local leaders announced a crackdown on unlicensed liquor sales in Baltimore’s nightlife spots.

State Senate President William C. Ferguson IV, Baltimore Democrat, said the dealers sell booze out of their cars. The illicit vendors introduce another layer of mayhem into the beer-soaked weekend nights in neighborhoods such as Fells Point and Federal Hill.

Sheriff Cogen’s office has been tasked with leading the enforcement effort against illegal alcohol sales.

Residents are noticing improvements in Baltimore.

Tako Adufe, a lifelong city resident who owns the Pyre fast-casual restaurant downtown, said he feels that sense of safety.

“I do think that it’s gotten a lot better, at least since last summer,” Mr. Adufe, 36, told The Times. “You’d have random situations where you just run into a friend and you hear a crazy story about something that happened that night, and it’s so sad to hear, but those have gone down a lot less. People feel more comfortable, especially at night.”