Avis Williams has lived near the Rosemont Community apartment complex in West Baltimore for 30 years, but last week?s quadruple shooting there has led her to one conclusion: It might be time to move.
“It used to be working people lived in those apartments,” she said, pointing to the parking lot where police say a 22-year-old victim died Thursday. “Things have changed.”
Those sentiments were echoed by prominent Baltimore defense attorney Warren A. Brown, whose Spanish-style Ashburton house?s backyard pool became a murder scene this month when a Jeep crashed through his house?s wall. The Jeep?s driver, Dwight Baker, 35, was shot in an attempted robbery Aug. 26, lost consciousness and crashed through the wall and into Brown?s pool, police said.
“It?s just insane,” Brown said. “I?m thinking that the county might be a safer refuge.”
Brown?s and Williams? neighborhoods experienced violence this month as 23 more people became homicide victims in Baltimore City, bringing this year?s murder count to 210. Police have solved 70 of those crimes, meaning 33 percent of this year?s homicide cases have been closed.
If the pace continues, the city will tally 315 homicides this year.
That rate dwarfs other major East Coast cities.
Per 100,000 residents, Baltimore?s murder tally is at 33 murders this year. For comparison, Newark N.J.?s murder rate per 100,000 residents is 24; Washington D.C.?s 23; Philadelphia?s 19; Boston?s 8; and New York?s 4.
“Boston is outraged, and they have around 40 murders,” former Baltimore Police Commissioner Edward Norris said. “If we cut our murders by 50 percent, we?d still be ahead of most other cities. … We should view this as a state of emergency.”
Faced with that murder rate, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon in July forced the resignation of then-Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm, replacing him with his deputy of operations, Frederick Bealefeld.
Bealefeld is now one of two finalists for the police chief?s job should Dixon win the mayoral election Sept. 11. The other candidate is former Washington, D.C., Police Chief Charles Ramsey, Dixon spokesman Anthony McCarthy said.
Since Bealefeld?s start date on July 12, there have been 42 shootings compared with 68 through the same time period last year, city police spokesman Sterling Clifford said.
Seizures of illegal guns also have increased by about 30 percent since July 12. Police have seized 297 guns this year, compared with 229 during the same time last year, Clifford said.
Additionally, Bealefeld has begun to throw departmental resources ? 60 officers each ? at the city?s Eastern and Western Districts, where violence has been intense.
“… They are targeting the hours where violent crimes occur,” Clifford said.
Since July 24, those 120 officers have executed 106 search warrants, made 1,500 arrests, including 100 juveniles, and seized 45 guns, and $189,000.
The Eastern District has experienced a 20 percent decrease in homicides, and the Western District has recorded a 60 percent decrease in shootings compared with the previous month, Clifford said.
Despite some improvements, those running for mayor say not enough is being done.
Del. Jill Carter, a mayoral candidate, blames the murder rate on “failed leadership.”
“Sheila Dixon is hoping this murder crisis will be a dirty little secret until she gets elected,” Carter said.
“She?s diverting attention about a new police commissioner when she should be declaring a state of emergency. Two hundred ten people lost their lives under her watch. She believes we?re making progress. How in the world can she believe that? She?s terribly apathetic about this crisis.”
McCarthy called that statement “foolishness.”
“This mayor wakes up in the morning and thinks about how to make Baltimore safer,” he said. “She goes to bed with homicides, shootings and crime stats on her mind. It appears to be working. The citizens are telling her they?re standing with her.”
Whether the crime strategy is working, victims? families and friends say the killings are too painful and want them to end.
“I still see my brother in my mind every day,” said Lavar Williams, 25, whose brother Lorado, 27, a popular boxer and martial arts coach, was gunned down during an attempted robbery Aug. 6. “That was my big brother and I miss him.”
Norris points to structural problems, including housing, education and health deficiencies in the city, which saw major crime reductions when he was police chief.
At the Rosemont Community apartments, where police were continuing their investigation into the quadruple shooting, those structural problems were all too familiar.
“Some kids get hit, and theycome back with guns,” said Shirley Watson, 32, who lives in the neighborhood. “They need to give these kids something to do.”
Staff Writer Stephen Janis contributed to this article.
