The murder rate in Baltimore has skyrocketed with dozens more killed by the end of August compared to this time last year.
The Baltimore police reported that by this past weekend, 232 residents have been murdered. But by this time last year, only 199 had died, according to WJZ Cannel 13.
With four months to go in 2018, Baltimore seems poised to smash last year’s total of 309 murders — though 2018 was down slightly over the 343 murdered in 2017. With only 196 murders, the year 2011 has been the only year in nearly 20 years that the murder rate fell below 210 homicides, and the death rate has been well over 300 in each of the last three years.
Last year, the FBI reported Baltimore’s per capita crime rate was higher than any other American city with a population over 500,000 citizens.
The bureau added overall, across the U.S. violent crime had fallen by .2 percent from 2016 to 2017, a statistic that makes Baltimore’s rising rate really stand out.
David Kennedy, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, slammed the city for its complete failure to address the rising crime rates. Kennedy insisted that Baltimore has been “unable to muster any kind of strategic and lasting response” to the violence besetting the city.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.