BALTIMORE, MD (December 30, 2019) — Council President Brandon M. Scott released the following response to news that 343 people have lost their lies to gun violence in Baltimore so far this year, setting a new record for per capita homicides:
"This weekend, Baltimore recorded its 343rd homicide. I’m hurt and disheartened to know that in 2019, our city has experienced the highest number of homicides per capita in Baltimore history.
Baltimore can do better. Our communities don’t have to suffer the way they have been. We cannot and will not normalize this reality.
We must understand every single person we’ve lost in Baltimore as more than a number. These were people whose futures may have changed our city in ways that we will now never know. Losing so many of our loved ones creates new trauma and deeply impacts us in ways we can never fully understand.
I take my role as a public servant seriously. As someone born and raised in Baltimore, I fear how the disease of gun violence will continue to take precious lives — like Milton Carrington, Bailey Reeves, Carlos Liverpool, and Destiny Harrison — if we do not have a vision and do not act now.
I have spent my time as Councilmember to strongly advocate for a public safety plan that could save lives, fueled not by politics but by knowledge and evidence. I’ve publicly called out Mayors for their lack of urgency. I’ve cut hearings short when the City Council was promised a plan, but no progress was presented.
We can win this battle by uniting to address gun violence with new strategies. By building better young men and women in our neighborhoods. With holistic approaches and stronger coordination across our agencies, from DPW to City Schools. With BPD focused on removing the people who commit violent acts and illegal guns from our streets. With real vision from the Mayor’s Office.
Turning the tide on gun violence will require the dedication of every City worker in every agency, while we as Baltimoreans commit to being our best selves each day. My heart is with the people and the families who lost loved ones this year. Baltimore City doing better is not an option, it is the only way."
— Council President Scott
