Forget It Jake, It's Baltimore

Who needs social distancing when you have a Saturday Night Special. The Balmer Sun, Baltimore crime during coronavirus: Property crime plummets, gun violence continues

For five days after Baltimore’s mayor declared a state of emergency related to the coronavirus, the city didn’t record a single homicide.

It seemed possible that concern over the pandemic might suppress the city’s longstanding plague of gun violence. The reprieve was short-lived.

Since March 23, the city has seen 11 killings in 12 days, with at least 18 more people shot and wounded. That doesn’t include a man fatally shot by a police officer. March finished with 18 homicides, a number in line with what’s typically been recorded during the month in recent years.

But the overall crime picture remains more complex. Total reported crime in Baltimore has indeed dipped, as have calls to 911, data show. Reported property crime is down considerably: Burglaries, larcenies and auto thefts have fallen each of the past three weeks, and have been cut in half compared with the same period last year.

 So far murder is still ahead, with only 7 deaths in Baltimore City due to WuFlu.