Violence Prevention Plan Unveiled In Baltimore

BALTIMORE, MD — Violence prevention will take a multilayered approach in Baltimore, which has recorded 192 homicides so far this year. Federal, state and local officials joined Mayor Brandon Scott in Charm City Friday to show they were united in battling crime. The police commissioner, congressmen, city state's attorney and others were among those in attendance.

Scott said his approach was based upon three pillars, and he released a violence prevention plan built around them that will be implemented from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2026.

Here are the pillars of the plan:

• Public health approach to violence
• Community engagement and interagency coordination
• Evaluation and accountability

Read the 33-page Baltimore City Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan.

Officials described the first 12 months as a foundational year to lay the groundwork for implementation of the plan.

Here is an excerpt from the executive summary of the plan, which describes it as a "holistic public safety strategy" rooted in equity and healing:

"Never before has Baltimore developed a holistic public safety strategy, one that aims to treat gun violence as a public health crisis and operationalizes what Baltimore residents want to see from their City government. Furthermore, the City has never developed a multi-year plan to reduce violence in a sustainable way over time, not just for a year or two. As past public safety practices have failed to yield long-term results for Baltimore, the time is now for a comprehensive, coordinated strategy that recognizes policing, prosecution, and prisons cannot stem the tide of violence on their own. This Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan recognizes that every agency, institution, and organization that interfaces with Baltimoreans has a role to play in preventing violence in our communities. This plan embodies what it means to treat violence as a public health epidemic and reflects Mayor Scott’s urgency to cure violent crime and work in partnership with Baltimore residents around this shared vision. It is based in equity, healing, public health, and trauma-informed practices, all while centering on a clear strategic goal: a sustainable reduction in gun violence over the next five years."