Baltimore finished 2007 as the country?s third-most violent large city, preliminary FBI statistics released Monday show.
Only Detroit, with 19,683 violent crimes in a population of 861,000, and Memphis, Tenn., which racked up 13,052 violent crimes in a city with 669,000 people, had a higher rate of violent crime than Baltimore, which tracked 10,182 crimes of violence in a population of 624,000.
In 2006, Baltimore had the second-highest rate of violent crime in large cities, defined as having 500,000 or more people.
Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for Mayor Sheila Dixon and Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld, said the report was not surprising.
“Therewas a significant spike in homicides in the beginning of last year, which went down toward the end of the year,” he said. “We?ve continued to see those numbers go down. We don?t pay much attention to rankings. We pay attention to whether the people of this city are safe and getting safer.”
Of the most violent big cities, Baltimore was the only one to see a spike in homicides.
Detroit?s homicides went from 421 in 2006 to 383 last year, while Memphis? homicides went from 149 to 129. Baltimore tracked 276 homicides in 2006 compared with 282 last year.
Veteran defense attorney Roland Walker, fresh out of court from negotiating a plea deal in a murder case, said Baltimore?s persistent crime stems from social problems.
“It?s rare that I don?t have a client who is heavily involved in the use of drugs,” he said. “The second thing that hits me is the home life: There?s never a father in the home. You?re dealing with working mothers with multiple children who are never there with their children to guide them. It?s the disintegration of the family plus drugs and very little religion in their lives.”
In 2008, Baltimore is tracking an approximately 30 percent reduction in both homicides and nonfatal shootings.
David Briggs, owner of a business on Greenmount Avenue and crime blogger, said he believed the city?s focus on gun offenders was helping stem those crimes.
“Our murder numbers are down, and I think it is actually attributable to those programs,” he said.”It?s really a reallocation of crime. The message is: If you do something with a gun, we?re really going to come down on you. If you do it with a knife, not so much.”
Briggs said in the past five days there have been five violent crimes in the area of his business.
“It?s still Baltimore,” he said.
Honolulu was the country?s safest large city, followed by El Paso, Austin and San Antonio in Texas; San Diego and San Jose in California; Denver; and New York, according to the report.
MOST VIOLENT BIG CITIES
City / Population / Number of violent crimes
1 Detroit: .860,971 / 19,683
2 Memphis: .669,264 / 13,052
3 Baltimore: 624,237 /10,182
4 Nashville: 564,169 / 8,513
5 Philadelphia: 1.43 million / 21,180
6 Milwaukee: 572,938 / 8,040
7 Indianapolis: 797,268 / 9,841
8 Boston: .591,855 / 6,838
9 Houston: .2.16 million / 24,564
10 Las Vegas: 1.34 million / 13,641
LEAST VIOLENT BIG CITIES
1 Honolulu: 905,903 / 2,613
2 San Jose: 934,553 / 3,759
3 El Paso: 616,029 / 2,574
4 San Diego: 1.26 million / 6,332
5 Austin: 716,817 / 3,871
6 San Antonio: 1.31 million / 7,327
7 New York: 8.22 million / 50,453
8 Denver: 573,387 / 3,550
9 Seattle: 585,118 / 3,667
10 Fort Worth: 670,693 / 4,471
