After 300 Homicides In Baltimore, 'We Need Action': Scott

BALTIMORE, MD — There have been 300 homicides in Baltimore City, Council President Brandon Scott announced at a Thursday morning news conference.

"As a city, we carry that pain and that trauma," Scott said, adding they are lives, not numbers.

At every council meeting, Scott said he asks for a moment of silence for those who are lost.

"We need action now," Scott said at a news conference about the homicides streamed live by Fox 45. "We cannot wait any longer. This is not acceptable. This is not normal. People are losing their lives. Children are losing their lives. Seniors are losing their lives."

Last year, Baltimore recorded its 300th homicide on Dec. 20.

More than 40 percent of this year's homicide victims were in their 20s, according to The Baltimore Sun, which said 271 of the 300 victims were men.

Homicides have increased in areas such as Broadway as well as Park Heights, while Brooklyn saw a decrease from 11 to 5 homicides so far this year and Edmondson Village hasn't had any, the newspaper reported.

Since 2017, Scott said he and other members of the City Council have been asking for a comprehensive plan of action to reduce violence in Baltimore.

"Gun violence and violence in Baltimore is a public health issue that can only be dealt with in a comprehensive way," Scott said.

Employment, transportation and other departments all play a role. "This is not simply a policing problem," he said. The council president called on residents, businesses and nonprofits to work with public safety officials to help solve it as a community.

Community Invited To Help

Scott invited the community at 4 p.m. Tuesday to the Public Safety Committee meeting in council chambers as the committee discusses proposed legislation that would require the mayor to present a biennial crime plan to the Baltimore City Council published on the city's website for public comment.

Scott said he hopes for a crime plan to be introduced as well as a proposal to create a gun registry that would track violent offenders who have been convicted of certain crimes.