You may not have noticed a difference, but Baltimore has been getting safer, at least if judged by the homicide rate.
As of December 23, Baltimore has seen “only” 194 murders this year, so it’s possible that the city will finish the year with fewer than 200, making it our least violent year since at least the 1980s.
City officials would like to take credit for the decline, but Baltimore’s drop is probably better understood as part of a trend we’re seeing across the country. It’s a trend that’s been moving steadily. Baltimore in 2010 saw 223 homicides, at the time the lowest number since 1985.
