In Baltimore, nearly all categories of crime have since declined, confirming to Mosby what she and criminal justice experts have argued for years: Crackdowns on quality-of-life crimes are not necessary for stopping more serious crime. On Friday, Mosby announced that she was making her pandemic experiment permanent, saying Baltimore β for decades notorious for runaway violence and rough policing β had become a case study in criminal justice reform. In the 12 months since she ordered scaled-back enforcement, violent crime is down 20 percent and property crime has declined 36 percent, she said.
Homicides inched down, though Baltimore still has one of the highest homicide rates among cities nationwide. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found sharp reductions in calls to police complaining about drugs and prostitution, she said.
But whether Baltimore is indeed an experiment that can be replicated elsewhere remains to be seen. But Baltimore is one of the few big cities where violence did not increase. In dozens of cities, homicides and shootings rose in While many prosecutors have maintained their pandemic suspensions on low-level offense prosecutions, few have said those shifts will remain in place in perpetuity. Some newly elected prosecutors, though, have vowed to abandon low-level cases permanently.
At Friday's news conference, Mosby also faced questions about a federal investigation into her campaign finances, as well as the finances of her husband, a city councilman. Her attorney has called the investigation "politically motivated.
She said the Baltimore Police Department will be a partner in this shift away from low-level prosecutions, in which officers and prosecutors will focus on violent crime and drug trafficking as courts begin holding criminal trials again.
