Three Safe Streets Sites Celebrate 365 Days with No Homicides

Safe Streets Belvedere, Franklin Square, and Park Heights achieve over 365 Days of no homicides in respective catchment zones.

BALTIMORE, MD(Friday, September 6, 2024) - Today, Mayor Brandon M. Scott, the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE), and LifeBridge Health's Center for Hope announced that three Safe Streets sites have achieved over 365 days with no homicides in the site's catchment zone. Two sites, Belvedere and Park Heights have continued to be homicide-free, while the Franklin Square site had 373 days without a homicide from June 26, 2023, to July 3, 2024.

An event marking the milestone for the Belvedere site was held this afternoon, Friday, September 6, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. outside the physical site location at 5320 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21215. The Park Heights site's celebration is scheduled for Friday, September 20, 2024, at 3929 Park Heights Ave, on the corner of Park Heights and Shirley Avenues from 3:00-6:00 p.m. An event celebrating the Franklin Square site's achievement will be held later this month.

"Having three sites go over 365 days without a homicide in their catchment area is no small feat and it is a testament to the hard work, credibility, and relationships needed to effectively mediate conflicts and make our neighborhoods safer," said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. "The progress we are making as a City addressing violence in our communities would not be possible without our community violence intervention ecosystem, of which our Safe Streets teams are a critical part. Their dedication to the work of preventing potentially violent conflicts before they spiral out of control is necessary and critically important."

Safe Streets Belvedere last recorded a homicide on June 28, 2023, and the Park Heights site's last homicide date was July 30, 2023. As of this morning the Belvedere site has gone 436 days, and the Park Heights site has gone 404 days since there was a homicide in their catchment zones. Across the city homicides are down 29.3 percent and nonfatal shootings are down 36.5 percent so far in 2024 compared to 2023.

"From engaging their communities to conducting mediations, Safe Streets staff show up for Baltimore and work to build safer communities every single day," said MONSE Director Stefanie Mavronis. "The fact that these sites were able to produce extended periods of time without a homicide in their catchment zone is no coincidence. Together, we are demonstrating the immense value of treating violence as a public health issue in ways that go beyond policing and prosecution."

As of August 31, 2024, Safe Streets employees have mediated over 946 potentially violent conflicts this calendar year.

There are ten Safe Streets Baltimore sites located across Baltimore in neighborhoods with historically high levels of gun violence. The Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) is responsible for oversight of the Safe Streets Baltimore program and contracts with community-based organizations - Associated Catholic Charities and Lifebridge Health Center for Hope - to serve as site administrators. Catholic Charities operates the Penn North site as well as the Sandtown-Winchester, Brooklyn, and Cherry Hill locations. LifeBridge Health's Center for Hope serves as the operator for the Belvedere, Park Heights, Woodbourne-McCabe, Belair-Edison, McElderry Park, and Franklin Square locations.

"Thanks to the unwavering dedication and tireless efforts of the Center for Hope's community violence intervention teams, along with our invaluable community partners, we've reached this monumental milestone," said Adam Rosenberg, Executive Director of the Center for Hope and Vice President of Violence Intervention & Prevention at LifeBridge Health. "While we celebrate this success, we remain vigilant and optimistic, steadfast in our commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of our communities. In the heart of our neighborhoods, where resilience runs deep and hope shines bright, we're not just noting a milestone; we're setting a precedent for what's possible when we stand together."

As outlined in the Mayor's Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan, the Scott Administration has committed to supporting and strengthening Safe Streets. The program serves as the flagship gun violence intervention program associated with Baltimore's Community Violence Intervention ecosystem alongside Hospital Violence Intervention Programs and other community-based violence intervention organizations. Firearm injury admissions at LifeBridge Health's Sinai Hospital's emergency department, a Hospital Violence Intervention Program partner, are down 42% from their peak in 2020, thanks in part to the collaborative efforts with neighboring Safe Streets sites, which have been instrumental in violence prevention and community outreach.

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health published a report last year that found that Safe Streets has reduced homicides and nonfatal shootings in neighborhoods where it is present.

MONSE publishes regular reports on Safe Streets on the agency's website, where residents can learn more about this work: Reports and Resources | Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (baltimorecity.gov).

About Safe Streets

Launched in Baltimore City in 2007, Safe Streets is a public health CVI initiative aimed at reducing shootings and homicides in targeted areas of Baltimore City. It is a movement holding the belief that violence is a disease that can be cured. Safe Streets employs credible messengers that are known in and understand the community. They are taught conflict resolution best practices and receive conflict mediation training and then injected back into their communities as the antidote against the disease of violence. This is achieved by targeting and building rapport with the high risk and key individuals who are likely to shoot or be shot. This program follows the Cure Violence model for violence intervention.

In addition to mediating conflicts, Safe Streets sites regularly hold events and partner with other community-based organizations to grow relationships with residents, foster a stronger sense of community in site catchment zones, and distribute resources that help address the root causes of violence.

Safe Streets is staffed by carefully selected individuals who have the ability to:

• Connect with those who are at the highest risk for involvement in gun violence;
• Mediate disputes;
• Promote nonviolent norms for settling disputes; and
• Connect people to services.

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