Mayor Brandon M. Scott Highlights Historic Reductions in Violent Crime in 2025
Baltimore Sees Lowest Number of Homicides Ever Recorded; Homicides and Shootings Down By Nearly 60% Since 2021
BALTIMORE, MD (Monday, January 5, 2026) — Today, Mayor Brandon M. Scott was joined by Congressman Kweisi Mfume, Congressman Johnny Olszewski, Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson, State Senator Cory McCray, Police Commissioner Richard Worley, State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, Council President Zeke Cohen, MONSE Director Stefanie Mavronis, State and City leaders, law enforcement and community partners, and residents to mark the historic reductions in violence Baltimore saw over 2025.
In 2025, Baltimore recorded 133 homicides — the fewest in nearly 50 years. This is the third consecutive year homicides have decreased by double digits. The city also saw the largest year-over-year percentage decrease in homicides ever recorded, with homicides declining by 31%. The number of non-fatal shootings declined from 423 in 2024 to 311 in 2025, a 24.5% decrease. Since 2021, homicides and shootings have both declined by nearly 60%: homicides by 58.7% and non-fatal shootings by 57.3%. The number of juvenile homicide victims in 2025 also declined by 78% compared to 2024. BPD also seized over 2,480 firearms seized and 264 ghost guns,
“Five years ago, before our comprehensive strategy to address gun violence, we were losing 300 people to homicide every year,” said Mayor Scott. “Thanks to this strategy, and all of the individuals across our community violence intervention ecosystem, we have reduced that number by nearly 60%. Together, we are helping folks put down the guns and change their lives, supporting job programs and apprenticeships, and investing in our communities by building schools, rec centers, libraries, pools, and playgrounds. For those of us who have seen the worst of gun violence — who experienced the pain of 300 homicides, year after year — this progress is especially meaningful. I want to thank each and every BPD officer, community violence interrupter, prosecutor, state and federal law enforcement partner, and most importantly, Baltimore resident, who helped us get here. This progress is a credit to all Baltimoreans.”
"Mayor Scott's ability to work nonstop in helping to stabilize communities, restore youth centers and enhance the City's downtown partnerships, while at the same time listening and building working alliances with citizens in every part of town cannot be denied,” said Congressman Mfume. “Furthermore, lest we forget, he has led the way and presided over a three-year continuous decline in murders and non-fatal shootings to historic levels not seen before in the last 50 years. I've lived here under ten different mayors, and while we all can describe things that we still want to see changed or addressed, there's no denying that the City has come a long way in a short time under his visionary and energetic leadership."
“This is a milestone that's worthy of celebration, and sets an appropriate new standard which we are committed to upholding,” said Congressman Olszewski. “We deal with a lot of mistruths and misinformation these days in Washington, but numbers don't lie, and the work that the Mayor and so many others have done has made Baltimore safer than it's been in years. This is happening even as we see a federal administration gutting funding for many of the very programs that are fueling our progress. Congressman Mfume and I continue to push to restore those resources, because as we are seeing, these are targeted, smart investments — exactly what taxpayers want, expect and deserve.”
“Ten years ago, following the death of Freddie Gray, I stood with then-Councilman Scott and then-Delegate McCray to make the commitment that we would do things differently,” said Senate President Ferguson. “Today, standing with them alongside State’s Attorney Bates, we are celebrating a 60% reduction in the number of people killed in our city, which is not just a number. This is about human beings. It's about believing that every single person deserves to be protected. Of course, we have a long way to go. But we are seeing that our investments in the people of Baltimore are working.”
“Together, we aren’t just interrupting violence in Baltimore — we’re also interrupting poverty,” said Senator McCray. “It's not lost on me that our city has celebrated four brand-new rec centers; I've never seen that in my lifetime. We just cut the ribbon on the first library in the city of Baltimore in 15 years. We were just at the groundbreaking of the new public school football stadium that's coming to REACH Partnership. We just opened the new Furley Elementary, which was falling down a decade ago. We are the fastest-growing urban jurisdiction in the country when it comes to building new schools. The most important thing that Mayor Scott is saying to our young people is that he sees them, he hears them, but most importantly, he believes in their greatness.”
“This progress was neither inevitable nor by accident,” said Police Commissioner Worley. “It’s a direct result of sustained collaboration, strategic focus and collective commitment of all of our agencies, along with building trust and engagement with the communities we serve. The Department continues to show that investing in our members and strengthening relationships with our citizens leads to real, measurable reductions in progress.”
“Our Organized Crime Unit has partnered with GVRS since its inception in 2022 to stop violence and protect Baltimore communities,” said Attorney General Anthony Brown. “We have removed illegal firearms from the streets and ensured that only those who are driving violence are being targeted for prosecution. Every life saved by this historic drop in violent crime represents a family that didn’t have to endure the devastating loss of a loved one to gun violence.”
“Thanks to an all-of-the-above strategy, we have achieved historic declines in violent crime — not with mass incarceration or civil rights abuses, but with trauma-informed care, credible messengers and community policing,” said Council President Cohen. “To be clear, we will not stop until violence has been eradicated from every community in Charm City. But it's also important to stand in this moment and acknowledge what Baltimore has accomplished together.”
“This progress would not have been possible without our partners at all levels of government, across all functions of the public safety spectrum, but most importantly, the Baltimore community,” said Director Mavronis. “I’m proud to live in a city where we address violence as a public health issue, using as many tools in the toolkit as possible to reduce violence and heal our people. We are creating a culture of change in Baltimore that sees public safety as more than just the sole function of police and prosecutors, but all of us, together.”
“Under Mayor Scott’s leadership, Baltimore’s Group Violence Reduction Strategy has generated unprecedented and lifesaving impact, ” said Katie Appel Duda, Senior Director of Local Government Affairs and Special Advisor to the President, Everytown for Gun Safety. “Thanks to Mayor Scott’s role as national co-chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, mayors across the country are taking note and taking action – recognizing that when you invest in prevention and intervention alongside enforcement and prosecution, you can save lives.”
"As a proud Baltimore institution, Johns Hopkins joins our neighbors across our city in celebrating the historic progress Mayor Scott's administration and community members city-wide achieved in reducing violent crime last year,” said Ron Daniels, President of Johns Hopkins University. “These dramatic improvements have outpaced those of peer cities nationwide and were made possible through a shared commitment to comprehensive, prevention-focused policing rooted in data-driven strategies, accountability to measurable outcomes, and meaningful community engagement that builds trust with neighbors and partners. We are proud to support the mayor’s office and important work done through the Group Violence Reduction Strategy in partnership with the Baltimore Police Department and the State’s Attorney’s Office, as well as the devoted local organizations that Hopkins has been fortunate to partner with — like Roca and Turnaround Tuesday, among others — in realizing these goals. This progress is essential to our shared efforts to create new opportunities for our communities and new jobs and economic growth that benefit all Baltimoreans. With a new year ahead, we recognize there is more work we must do together to build on this success and further reduce violence across all corners of the city. At Hopkins, we share Mayor Scott’s fundamental belief that everyone deserves to feel safe — and we remain focused on realizing that promise for all our neighbors and partners.”
During his time in office, Mayor Scott has implemented a comprehensive and evidence-based approach to public safety, outlined in his Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan. Mayor Scott’s approach treats violence as a public health issue and recognizes that constitutional law enforcement and community-centered intervention both serve a critical role in reducing crime. This year, the Mayor’s Office successfully expanded the Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS) — a partnership between the Mayor’s Office, BPD, the State’s Attorney Office, and the Office of the Attorney General, which facilitates direct engagement with the small number of group-involved individuals most likely to be the victim or perpetrator of violence — to a majority of districts within the city. Additionally, Mayor Scott has further prioritized investments in Baltimore’s Community Violence Intervention (CVI) ecosystem, City Schools, recreation centers, and youth services.
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