Baltimore prosecutor credits targeting repeat offenders for falling murders

After years of escalating violence, the Baltimore senior prosecutor says the tide is finally turning – because his office takes the perpetrators of violent crimes from the streets.

“We had to tell the criminal element that it was a new day, that there was accountability and that you would go to prison,” Evan Bates, Baltimore City’s lawyer, told Fox News Digital.

Pits said that the crime control platform was built around one promise: follow the people who cause the most damage.

“When we got to his post two years ago, I ran on a platform to pursue repeated violent criminals … These are the individuals we knew that they were causing terrorism in our societies,” he said.

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One of the forensic police technicians in Timur documents the scene where the police shot a man by the police, on November 7, 2023, in Baltimore. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun via AP, File)

“If you are the perpetrator of the repeated, violent perpetrator, you are our number one goal, and our focus is number one, and we need to remove you from the street,” Pits follow.

According to Pets, there was between 5000 and 6000 of these perpetrators in the city. His office has focused on illegal weapons cases involved on convicted criminals, using a powerful tool of already submitted by Maryland.

“In Maryland, if you are carrying a pistol and you are a frequent violent perpetrator, the state lawyer can call for a number of mandatory minimal, which means that you will go to prison for at least five years without the possibility of conditional release,” Pitts explained. “It is a mandatory minimum. The previous administration did not call for those drawings, accounts. We did so.”

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The governor of the state, Wes Moore and Ivan Bings, a state lawyer in the city of Baltimore, a survey in the four homes of four neighborhoods during the societal walk with Baltimore Brandon Scott, officials and community members. On the right is Eric Costello, member of the Provincial Council 11. (Kim Hreston/Baltimore Sun/Tribune news via Getti Emaiz)

This strict enforcement is attributed, with the support of close cooperation with the police and federal prosecutors, with The decrease in the city’s murder.

Bates said the results are talking about themselves. Within just two years, his office sent 2,129 Repeat the violent perpetrators to prison – doubling the amount under the previous administration.

“We focused on these individuals who carried illegal pistols … they were not allowed to a pistol,” Bents said. “Forty percent of that group were victims of murders, but they were also perpetrators of murders. [be] The killers.

According to data from Police department in dates, Crimes decreased by 23 % by the end of 2024 (201 compared to 261 in 2023) and non -fatal shootings decreased 34 % (414 against 635). BPD has also reported the rates of clearance higher than the national averages in several categories.

The data also showed that until June 30 of 2025, murders decreased by 22 % (68 versus 88) and 19 % unsuccessful shooting (164 against 204). BPD reported 64 % clearance of the killing and a 44 % full -time clearance rate, as well as more than 1,300 gunfire, including 150 ghost guns.

City officials assert that despite the decrease in murders and shooting, work remains to reduce other groups of violence and crime.

“Our continuous progress is the direct result of the comprehensive public safety strategy based on the evidence that we implemented in partnership with the population,” Mayor Brandon Scott said in a press statement. “While we admit the historical maximum we are witnessing, we must recognize simultaneously that there is more work that must be done, and our success makes me commit to more work.”

For decades, Pits said that the Baltimore justice system had a good reputation in leniency, but now it has changed.

“There is no magic pill. You just have to bear people really,” I explain. “When they know that they will go to prison, their positions change dramatically.”

The politicians in the capital continued to “cut” law enforcement, the paving way to receive Trump, says the former FBI agent.

Baltimore police officer is trying to secure the crime scene with a bar at the shooting place at the intersection of West North Street and Dryid Hill Street in West Baltimore, Maryland. (Reuters/Jim Burg)

Unlike the past – when violent criminals can expect monitoring or separation – Pitts says his office now takes these cases seriously.

“Prosecutors must put people in prison with bad people with weapons. We have to understand it. It’s simple.”

Bates confirmed that reducing crime also requires rehabilitation and economic stability.

A member of the Baltimore Police Department stands careful at the crime scene on Mother’s Day in the city center in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, May 12, 2019. (Stephanie Keith/Reuters)

“We want to make sure that while they are imprisoned, they already have the opportunity … GED, work and training skills … even when they return home, they can already get a job that pays them a real wage,” he said. “If you cannot read, you will not get a degree, what will you do?”

In addition to issuing difficult judgments, Pitts refers to structural reforms within his office, because he says they have grown greatly to deal with cases.

“When we got to the office, there were only about 140 general actor … Now we have 200.”

He also hopes to expand additional federal scholarships.

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Bates confirmed that the reduction of crime is not a party case.

“At the end of the day, we focus on public safety because public safety does not know any party. It must always know what is the best for the public.”

Baltimore City State lawyer Ivan Bings is participating with his team’s members outside William Pies to vote on Tuesday. (Kevin Richardson/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

With the decrease in murders, Bates believes that Baltimore can restore the confidence of the public and attract investment again to the city.

“People have hope … we are moving in the right direction … especially when it comes to a violent crime,” he said. “We need more individuals who move to Baltimore and not move … The first thing is that we have to focus on safety.”

Bents sees progress A model for other cities Especially those who struggle with crime policies.

He said: “The most important person to combat crime is your public prosecutor … If the public prosecutor says that everyone goes home, there is a rotating disk … but once you show that you do not play, people change their position.” “When you take the archers and murderers off the street, it will go down.”

Stephenia Price covers the crime, including missing persons, murders and migrant crime. Send the story tips to Stepheny.price@fox.com.