The year 2007 had barely begun when Baltimore police Officer Troy Chesley was gunned down on his West Baltimore doorstep in an attempted robbery. The killing of a cop on the streets of America?s most murderous city provided a portent of a bleak and bloody year. Gunshot after gunshot. Funeral after funeral. Heartbroken family after heartbroken family.

In 2007, 282 people were slain in Baltimore, the most the since 1999.