Nationwide Baltimore has a reputation, and it’s not a good one. Manslaughter, theft, drug abuse, these are only a few of the thing that the city is known for. But just how many of those who commit these crimes get punished for it?

     The answer is way too few. According to the Baltimore Sun, 4,154 homicides were reported since 2007. 318 of them happened in 2021 alone, and 27 homicides have occurred just in the past month. 

     That’s almost one killing a day. 

     These offenders are getting away with murder, and the criminal justice departments of Baltimore appears not to be doing much to catch them.

     Although worldwide criminality in 2020 had decreased due to the Covid virus and the world’s need for social distance, murders in Baltimore still happened at extreme rates.  In 2021, the solve rate of homicides has been 1 out of every 4, or 25%, which has not improved since 2017-2019.

     Not enough murders are being solved in Baltimore, and those who aren’t caught are roaming freely amongst kids, mothers, and those frailest in the city. Baltimore police now make less arrests for homicides than in 2016, and when compared to other cities across the nation, there has been an increase in homicide rates. 

   The gravity of these homicides vs. their solving rates are showing that the violence and aggression are getting out of control, and there needs to change–change to the way these cases are handled, change to the way offenders are handled, even before getting put in the back of a police car. 

     Those who lost loved ones by crime need to feel closure, and they need to know the person who caused someone they loved so much pain is getting the punishment they should be.

    Maryland Governor Logan Hogan plans to make that change, and he says that these lives are “tragically snuffed out, and families will never be the same. It’s heartbreaking. And it’s completely unacceptable.” 

     The truth is that people in Baltimore are hurting, and scared. As Hogan mentioned “They’re searching for answers… [as to] why this bloodshed keeps happening and what it’s going to take something to finally change,” 

    If Hogan’s actions helps criminalize crime in the city, many lives could be saved. 

     Hogan’s plan is to introduce the Violent Firearms Offender Act and the Judicial Transparency Act, to make sentencing for gun violence hardened and to help clarify judges’ information on sentencing. 

     The sentences being toughened in the Violent Firearms Offender Act are for those who commit crimes with firearms. And what about homicides caused by other weapons? How will those be treated?   Only the future can tell.