Baltimore Crime Beat: November now deadliest month of year - Baltimore crime news: Police, courts and police stories in the city and central Maryland

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November 30, 2009

November now deadliest month of year

The beating death of a 64-year-old man makes November the deadliest month of 2009 for Baltimore murder, bringing the total number of slayings so far this year to 210 (late breaking development -- two more peopl were killed today, so the total is now 212).

There were 213 at this time last year, when Baltimore recorded a 20-year low 234 homicdes (chart murder with The Sun's homicide map).

For everyone playing the numbers game, this all means the city is going to have a tough time besting 2008. While these stats hardly mean Baltimore is any less safer, or more dangerous, the murder count for better or worse is a way the city gets judged on crime.

No doubt police and City Hall will trumpet gun arrests and gun seizures, as well as drops in other categories, to say this year was better than last. Let's hope for something different this year: how about a December free of killing?

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Breaking news

Comments

I'm sure you can comment better than I, but I thought that non-fatal shootings were up in 2008 (over 2007), and are down significantly in 2009 (vs 2008). So the story of 2008 was that the violence last year was as bad as '07, but the ambo's and EMT's did a fantastic job saving lives. This year, the total violence has curbed significantly, but we're back to a normal rate of shot people dying.

Posted by: Matt | December 1, 2009 10:25 AM

MATT IT'S A FLIM FLAM. THE CITY HAS BEEN COOKING THE NUMBERS FOR YEARS. BUT EVERY YEAR THE FBI REPORTS THAT BALTIMORE CITY IS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS CITIES IN THE USA. LOOK AT THE NEWS AND READ THE POLICE BLOTTER AND JUDGE FOR YOURSELF. THE WORDS THAT THEY USE IS "PRECEPTION OF BEING SAFE" REMEMBER PRECEPTION IS EVERYTHING!!!!

Posted by: UNCLEOLLIE41 | December 7, 2009 4:26 PM

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About Peter Hermann

Peter Hermann started covering news for The Baltimore Sun in 1990, first in Anne Arundel County and, starting in 1994, reporting on the Baltimore Police Department. In 2001, he was assigned to Jerusalem as the Baltimore Sun's Middle East correspondent. He returned in 2005 as an assistant city editor overseeing crime coverage. In 2008, Peter returned to the beat as a daily reporter and blogger. A recent BBC report featured him in a segment on the harsh realities of covering crime in Baltimore.

Coverage will focus on crime trends, problems in neighborhoods in the city and elsewhere, profiles of victims and police officers and try to offer readers a fresh perspective on one of the most vexing issues facing Baltimore and its future.

Contributing to this blog is Justin Fenton, who joined The Sun in 2005 and has covered the Baltimore City Police Department and the criminal justice system since 2008. His work includes an investigation into Cal Ripken Jr.’s minor league baseball stadium deal with his hometown of Aberdeen, a three-part series chronicling a ruthless con woman, coverage of the killing of five Amish children at a schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., and a job swap with a British crime reporter to explore differences in crime-fighting. A special report looking into how city police handle rape cases led to sweeping reforms that changed the way sexual assaults are investigated in Baltimore. He was recognized as the best reporter in Baltimore by the City Paper in 2010 and by Baltimore Magazine in 2011.

Follow @phscoop, @justin_fenton on Twitter