After a shooting Saturday night left one man dead and several others injured – including children – Mayor Brandon Scott doubled down on his call for everyone to “be better” but questions about the programs in place to deter the gun violence remain.
The shooting near the Upton Metro stop took place one block outside the catchment zone for Safe Streets Sandtown-Winchester and 0.2 miles from the Safe Streets building itself. The incident also happened within the boundaries of Baltimore Police’s Central District, but when the new boundaries take effect, it would have been in the Western.
“We need to step up and be better for ourselves,” Mayor Scott said Saturday night at the scene of the shooting.
The Western Police District is where the city’s piloted Group Violence Reduction Strategy, GVRS, is operating. Mayor Scott announced plans to expand GVRS into the Southwestern District and Central District by the summer of 2023.
According to data from BPD’s Open Baltimore database, the Central Police District had 76 shootings and 18 homicides in the last year; four homicides and eight shootings to date in 2023. The Western – which has been hailed as a success story since GVRS launched by Mayor Scott and his team – recorded 74 shootings and 34 homicides in the last year; four shootings and four homicides recorded thus far in 2023.
The Sandtown-Winchester Safe Streets location is one of 10 Safe Streets offices that make up the city’s “flagship gun-violence prevention” program that have been plagued with questions about effectiveness for years.
The program underwent an internal review by the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, MONSE, that was published in April 2022. The report confirmed much of what FOX45 News had been reporting for months – the data showing the effectiveness of Safe Streets was inconclusive and varied by location; the program also lacked oversight and accountability measures.
Given the latest shooting – in an area known be violent – FOX45 News questioned Mayor Scott on GVRS and the Safe Streets program’s effectiveness.
“Absolutely we know it’s working. We don’t go out here and say seatbelts or stoplights don’t work when accidents happen,” Scott said. “Someone made this decision.”
The shooting near the Upton Metro location left one man dead and another shot. A woman driving near the area was also shot while in her car causing her to crash the vehicle into a pole, injuring two children inside. Baltimore Police leaders said investigators were reviewing surveillance video from the area, but no suspect information has been released.