There have been 108 homicides so far this year in the city of Baltimore. According to the Baltimore Sun, there were five murders in the city just last weekend alone.
The only year that Baltimore has ever come close to recording so many murders in just the first 4 months of the year was in 1993 during the height of America's gang wars that plagued inner cities all across the country. In that year, some 24 years ago, 110 people were killed through the end of April. The city went on to record 353 homicides that year, the most in its history. That said, Baltimore has about 110,000 fewer residents now than in 1993, making this year's murder rate the highest ever, on a per capita basis.
Meanwhile, if the level of violent crime in Baltimore continues at the same rate as the first four months, for the remainder of the year, the city will blow right through the previous all time record high 353 homicides from 1993.
Therefore, it should come as little surprise that just yesterday we noted that Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh had publicly requested federal help from the FBI to combat the surging homicide rates in her city. Per CBS Baltimore:
“I’m calling on all the assistance we can possibly get because I can’t imagine going into our summer months with our crime rate where it is today, what that’s going to look like by the end of the summer."
“Murder is out of control."
“We are looking for all the help that we can get."
Now, just one day after a plea for help from a concerned mayor, the ATF has announced plans to send in reinforcements to help fight Baltimore's surging violent crime...
On Tuesday, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives plans to begin using a gun-tracing van in Baltimore to try to quickly solve gun crimes.
Daniel L. Board Jr., the ATF Baltimore Field Division special agent in charge, called the gun-tracing technology and the national database it connects to a "critical piece to solving and preventing gun violence in Baltimore."
Bond said the van will be "a tremendous asset to Baltimore by supporting a timely and comprehensive collection of firearm-related evidence at crime scenes, which in turn will help us reduce and prevent violent crime."
The network is used by law enforcement throughout the United States to generate leads in gun-related crimes. The van will be deployed in Baltimore starting this week and will be available throughout portions of the spring and summer, federal officials said.
...reinforcements which were gratefully received by concerned city officials.
"We're grateful to the federal intervention in the city of Baltimore," Pugh said. "We are looking for all the help we can get. Murder is out of control. There are too many guns on the streets."
City Councilman Brandon Scott, chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee, said he welcomed the federal resources.
"Every little bit helps," Scott said. "It's clear we have to do things differently. What we're doing currently isn't working. The strategy isn't working."
Ironically, Martin O'Malley, the former Mayor of Baltimore and a Democratic candidate for President in the 2016 election, took to his blog to advocate for cops to take a harsh stand against violent crime with a "zero tolerance" policy.
Former mayor and governor Martin O'Malley wrote in a recent blog post that "sadly, my own hometown of Baltimore chose to forget a lot of hard-earned lessons learned about crime reduction."
O'Malley was known for a data-based policing policy that resulted in high arrest rates. While homicides and other crime declined, the "zero tolerance" policy was blamed in a Department of Justice report for harming the relationship between the police and the community.
Of course, such advocacy from a democrat is surprising in light of the efforts taken by Obama's DOJ to intentionally undermine the authority of cops by labeling excessive enforcement actions as inherently 'racist' (for example, see: "DOJ Finds Pattern Of "Racial Discrimination" And Unconstitutional Use Of Force By Chicago Police").