Some hopeful policing news out of Baltimore. The city has seen multiple years in a row of stacking 20+% declines in homicides and non-fatal shootings.
‘What Baltimore did that’s so impactful is really invested in a whole ecosystem of community–oriented interventions,’ the Vera Institute for Justice’s Daniela Gilbert told Popular Information. Under Scott, Baltimore has fought violent crime not only through policing but through a network of programs that provide support for housing, career development, and education.
In today’s political environment, these approaches are frequently derided as “woke” and “naive.” But the dramatic decline in violent crime in Baltimore over the last few years suggests that there is a better word to describe its holistic strategy: effective.
Our country’s typical approach to policing, on the other hand, reminds me of the saying, “The beatings will continue until morale improves.”
