Baltimore continues to record some of the largest decreases in crime for cities its size and larger, according to recently released FBI statistics that examine crime in U.S. cities during the first six months of the year.
City Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris said last night that the statistics showed the city was headed in the right direction.
"We've made tremendous progress," Norris said. "I don't think anyone three years ago would have believed that we would have had this much success. We've made real progress during the last three years."
The city posted a 16 percent decrease in overall crime, 11 percent drop in violent crime and 18 percent decrease in property crime, the statistics show.
Those statistics continue a trend of decreases during recent years. Baltimore saw a 21 percent reduction in violent crime from 1999 through last year.
But one of the main measures of crime reduction -- homicides -- has remained stubbornly steady in Baltimore since 2000 -- when the city recorded fewer than 300 homicides for the first time in a decade.
Through Tuesday, the city recorded 245 killings, compared with 249 during the corresponding period last year. Norris said he could not explain why homicide reduction appears to have stalled while other violent crime -- such as shootings and robberies -- continues to dip.
He said police were noticing more "assassination-like" killings.
On Monday, the FBI released the statistics -- known as the Uniform Crime Reports -- for the first six months of the year concerning cities and towns larger than 100,000.
The statistics allow for the first comparison of Baltimore's crime picture this year with the rest of the country. The figures show that Baltimore is the most violent and second-most deadly per capita of the 25 largest U.S. cities.
During the first six months of the year, there were 992.4 violent crimes and 19.34 homicides per 100,000 people in Baltimore. Detroit ranked first per capita in homicides and second in violent crime, the statistics show.
Norris said top police commanders were developing new strategies and evaluating old ones as they enter the new year. The commissioner added he will likely remove more officers from administrative jobs and put those police on the streets. Civilians and retired officers will replace them.
Norris also said he would try to continue the redeployment of officers who flooded some of the city's most violent areas in early October. That effort will cost the city about $2.5 million in overtime through Dec. 31 and seems to be reducing crime in those areas, police say.