A year ago, Baltimore?s streets were drenched in blood. A slaying occurred nearly once a day, and Mayor Sheila Dixon ? then the interim mayor ? took heat for a death toll that kept Baltimore among the ranks of the nation?s most violent cities.
But on the eve of a national crime summit starting today at City Hall with 10 big-city mayors expected to attend ? including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ? a falling homicide rate has city leaders and criminologists giving partial credit to Dixon for achieving substantive results in the battle against crime.
In January, Baltimore notched its lowest monthly homicide total since 1978. So far there have been 16 fewer homicides in 2008 compared with the same time last year.
“We?re taking baby steps,” Dixon said in phone interview. “We?re making some progress.”
The change in Baltimore?s fortunes reflects Dixon?s leadership style, which City Hall insiders say can be tough and decisive but tempered by her ability to foster cooperation as well.
“She gives people a chance,” said City Councilman Jack Young, District 12.
“But she expects results.”
This style was evident in her boldest move, firing former police Commissioner Leonard Hamm and replacing him with Deputy Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld.
“I said to Hamm, ?The rumor is that you don?t run the department,? and he assured me he did, but I just didn?t think he had the drive,” Dixon said.
Despite pressure to hire a commissioner outside the department ? namely former Washington, D.C., police Chief Charles Ramsey ? Dixon chose instead to stick with the consummate insider: Bealefeld, a 27-year department veteran.
“Sometime you have to look beyond the resume,” she said. “I interviewed several people and didn?t think they were sincere.
“I just relied on my instinct, and I thought Fred had the drive to get the job done.”
Bealefeld, for his part, said Dixon lets him do his job without too much interference, a key factor in his ability to lower crime.
“She is not a police officer and I?m not a mayor, she understands that.
“She has vision that we both share, but she leaves the mechanics is to me,” he said.
A local criminologist said Dixon?s hands-off style has lead to better morale within the department and more effective policing.
“Nothing motivates a law enforcement agency more than minimizing political interference,” said Johns Hopkins criminologist Sheldon Greenberg.
“The mayor?s style of leadership has had a positive effect.”
