Can you say “Boondoggle“?
I knew you could.
5 years of Gun Violence Intervention data shows inconclusive results
BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced $50 million of the city’s $641 million allocation of American Rescue Plan money will be spent in the next three years for victim services and community based violence intervention programs. Scott and his team often tout the success of these programs in driving down crime, but the data paints a more inconclusive picture.
One community violence prevention program in Baltimore has been operational for more than a decade. Safe Streets, modeled after a similar program in Chicago, was launched in Baltimore in 2007. Since then, ten locations have opened in some of the most violent neighborhoods in the city.
Current Safe Streets Neighborhoods
- Belair-Edison
- Belvedere
- Brooklyn
- Cherry Hill
- McElderry Park
- Franklin Square
- Park Heights
- Penn-North
- Sandtown-Winchester
- Woodbourne
FOX45 analyzed the data for eight of the longest-serving Safe Streets locations and the numbers showed inconclusive data. Half of the locations saw an increase in shootings from 2016 to 2020 while the other half saw a decrease. As for homicides, the data was similar.
Shootings in Safe Streets Neighborhoods 2016 to 2020
- Sandtown-Winchester: 43% decrease
- Brooklyn: 35% decrease
- Cherry Hill: 63% decrease
- McElderry Park (East Baltimore): 333% increase
- Park Heights: 8% decrease
- Franklin Square: 100% increase
- Belaire-Edison: 33% increase
- Penn-North: 113% increase
Homicides in Safe Streets Neighborhoods 2016 to 2020
- Sandtown-Winchester: 22% increase
- Brooklyn: 22% increase
- Cherry Hill: 17% decrease
- McElderry Park (East Baltimore): 20% decrease
- Park Heights: 17% decrease
- Franklin Square: No change
- Belaire-Edison: 11% decrease
- Penn-North: 67% increase
During a conference put on by Giffords Law Center, discussing community violence prevention programs, FOX45 News questioned Mayor Scott’s Administration about the data to find out how long the city would have to wait to see sustained results.
“That’s an interesting question. Hundreds of lives have already been saved this year,” Shantay Jackson said, director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. “With regards to projecting out how long it’s going to take for us to see sustained declines over time, I think that it’s going to take some more work we’ve got to do, which is why we’ve said this is a foundational year.”
Jackson said the $22 million allocated for gun violence prevention programs will be allocated based on grant applications and Safe Streets will have to apply as well.
However, sustainable funding is the key to seeing sustained progress, according to Mike McLively, Community Violence Initiative Policy Director for Giffords. McLively said often cities pour some money into the programs but don’t offer sustained funding streams.
“For significant reductions of violence, you can see that in the two to five year range but then what we see often is a two-year reduction and then the foot comes off the gas pedal and we start to see violence start go back up,” McLively said. “It would be tens of millions of dollars at least for a city like Baltimore.”
Sean Kennedy, a visiting fellow with the Maryland Public Policy Institute, has been critical of spending the federal dollars on programs like Safe Streets. He said the influx of money could be better spent elsewhere and spending it on a program with long-term improvement goals could cost people lives now.
“Putting every dollar into Safe Streets instead of police who could actually stop the murderer tomorrow, to stop murders ten years down the road, is a wasted dollar for the family who’s loved one is going to be killed tomorrow,” Kennedy said.
While the funding for Baltimore is coming in a one-time infusion of cash, McLively said sustained funding is key and any interruption in the programming could disrupt the momentum and progress made by the workers in the community. When asked if she was concerned about the federal money running out, Jackson said “not at all.”
“This funding will be undeniable,” Jackson said, adding the data will show the necessity of the program and eventually Mayor Scott will budget more money for these community violence intervention programs.
As of Oct. 28, $5 billion was included in President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda specifically for community intervention programs in cities across the country.