“I know how critical it is to have those relationships because we knew it wasn’t going to be just us. It wasn’t going to be just the police department. It wasn’t going to be just this community organization or this other city agency,” Scott said. “Everyone has to work together.”

Fayette Street Outreach strives to meet community needs by first listening to resident voices, leaders say. That can look like offering a podcast course for teens over summer break or creating positive green spaces in vacant areas. A stretch of 2100 West Saratoga Street, for instance, now features picnic tables and young trees, in the hopes of hosting gatherings.

“Before anything — law enforcement or anybody else — in order for you to help change, you have to have a relationship. That takes time,” said Timothy Bridges, the organization’s vice president. “A lot of times, people want to get past that part and jump to something else. It’s a process to it.”

Webster, the researcher, said there is evidence that cleaning and greening projects, and addressing neighborhood blight, have public safety benefits. Baltimore is making slow but important progress on that front, he said.

Other factors at play in the violence decline, Webster said, likely include the group violence reduction strategy. It’s a focused deterrence, or “carrot-and-stick,” approach that couples a warning about pending law enforcement action with an offer for help transitioning from current behaviors. The effort saw success in its first pilot district and is working to expand citywide — which Webster said leaders admit can be a challenge.

He also pointed to the potential for more community trust in police, following years of work to reform the department under the court-mandated consent decree, and the potential that changes in the prosecutor’s office could be having an “incapacitation effect,” or short-term results in getting “bad guys off the street,” Webster said.

Democratic State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, who took office in January 2023, praised his office’s work in “setting the tone” that gun violence or carrying firearms is not acceptable, in repairing “broken” relationships with law enforcement agencies and in securing convictions for “trigger-pullers.” He cited prosecution figures that reflect a year-over-year increase in convictions for some crimes, including cases where individuals were initially criminally charged in a homicide.

The defense-attorney-turned-prosecutor said “just locking people up” won’t effectively drive down violence, but he believes it’s important to “show people it’s a possibility” and pair that with services and resources.

Looking forward, he hopes the city will prioritize services for people returning to Baltimore from prison or jail — and that the city can more effectively focus on “quality of life” crimes such as drug possession, loitering or open container laws. His citation docket initiative seeks to address those low-level offenses with citations and an offer to complete community service in exchange for dismissing the case.

“When I talk to the residents and I go out to the community meetings, sometimes the violent crime, it’s not on their doorstep. Quality of life crimes, they see them on their doorstep,” Bates said. “Like my dad said, ‘You gotta be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.'”

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