Mayor Brandon M. Scott announced that as of Sept. 1, 2026, shootings and homicides in Baltimore City have continued their historic decline that began in 2023.
As of this morning, the city had recorded 72 homicides and 201 non-fatal shootings. On this date in 2025, it had seen 88 homicides and 213 non-fatal shootings, which is an 18.2 percent decrease in homicides and a 5.6 percent decrease in non-fatal shootings.
“As we mark the end of summer, Baltimore continues to make historic progress on public safety,” Scott said. “All across our city, BPD officers and law enforcement partners, MONSE staff, prosecutors, everyone involved in our community violence intervention ecosystem, and most importantly, everyday Baltimoreans, are showing up for one another in our shared effort to build a safer, healthier Charm City. Our progress this summer is a testament to all of these individuals—and to the importance of the proven, data- and community-driven strategies that are delivering real results.”
Contributing to violence prevention is success in seizing firearms. As of Aug. 29, Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers have taken more than 1,367 firearms off the streets of Baltimore, including 138 ghost guns. BPD has made 826 gun arrests so far this year.
Crime is dropping across other categories, too. Carjackings are down 44 percent, burglaries down 16 percent, and total robberies down 13 percent compared to the same time last year.
Many factors contribute to the continued reduction of crime rates in Baltimore City. A major player is the Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS), a partnership between the BPD, the Mayor’s Office, and prosecutors. GVRS focuses on violent groups to both hold them accountable and offer them help and services to move past those behaviors. It puts its efforts toward those at the highest risk of being involved in violence.
The proof is in the results. As of Aug. 25, 2026, GVRS has led to more than 675 arrests, including 600 by BPD’s Group Violence Unit, and connected more than 420 people to life coaching and wraparound services through YAP or Roca since it was launched in 2022. More than 91.2% of GVRS participants have remained unvictimized after they enrolled in these services.
Safe Streets Baltimore is another flagship community violence intervention program. Five of its ten sites have reached the milestone of going over 365 days without a homicide within their respective zones. These sites include Park Heights, Woodbourne-McCabe, Sandtown, Penn North, and McElderry Park. As of Aug. 29, 2026, Safe Streets frontline intervention staff have successfully mediated over 929 potentially violent conflicts and connected 338 residents at-risk of being involved in violence with support services.
Those numbers reflect more than 100 violent conflicts avoided in August alone thanks to Safe Streets Baltimore. The program helped steer 75 people who were at risk of being involved in violence towards wraparound support services instead. Support services include victim services, community outreach, life coaching, meditation, and more.
Scott and MONSE are working on Baltimore’s second Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan. This is a new five-year roadmap to build on the progress of the last five years and will be released by early Fall 2026. Residents can attend listening sessions, the first of which is being held tonight, and share feedback through the public survey or by emailing MONSE.
