In its latest reporting period, covering October 8 through November 4, Baltimore Police reported 26 homicides and 89 shootings in the city – up 8% and 37% respectively from the same period in 2016.

As of last Saturday’s end date, the homicide toll for the year stood at 302 – 16% above the total at the same point in 2016.

During the last month, there were 308 street robberies, 45 carjackings, 505 larcenies from autos, 413 aggravated assaults, 619 common assaults and 623 burglaries.

Total property crime for the month amounted to 2,253 cases, or an average of 80.5 property crimes per day.

Total violent crime, excluding common assault, was 947 cases, or an average of 34 a day. Including common assault, the number rose to 1,566, or 56 per day last month.

“Violent Kids . . . Wreaking Havoc”

Surging crime and violence have placed the Pugh administration on the defensive.

After spending months criticizing the judiciary for letting criminals off with light sentences and using her political capital to squeeze through the City Council a bill calling for a one-year mandatory sentence for second handgun possession offenders, the mayor yesterday announced a “Multi-Agency Violence Reduction” initiative.

In a separate event, Police Commissioner Kevin Davis blamed a “broken juvenile justice system” for the recent rash of street violence that has been attributed to roving bands of young people.

While acknowledging that the BPD can always strive to do better, Davis honed in on poor adult supervision as a key source of juvenile crime.

“We need to all look ourselves in the mirror as a community of parents, grandparents, guardians in particular, and get ahold of these violent kids who are wreaking havoc in our city right now,” he told reporters at police headquarters.

The juvenile street violence was not particularly reflected in official police statistics, which actually reported a 2% decrease in aggravated assault in October 2017 compared to October 2016.

Overall for 2017, however, aggravated assaults are up 15% and now stand at 4,981 separate incidents.

Street robberies alone amount to 3,207 cases for the first 10 months of 2017 – up 7% from 2016.

Area and District Breakdowns

In Area 1 covering the Eastside (Southeastern, Eastern, Northeastern and Northern), there were 11 homicides and 25 shootings last month. This compared with 6 homicides and 19 shootings in October 2016.

In Area 2 covering the Westside (Northwestern, Western, Southwestern and Southern), there were 11 homicides and 59 shootings. This compared with 17 homicides and 40 shootings in October 2016.

In Area 3 covering the Central District (Inner Harbor, downtown, Mount Vernon, Seton Hill, Bolton Hill, Upton, Reservoir Hill and Charles North), there were 2 homicides and 5 shootings, compared with 1 homicide and 6 shootings in October 2016.

Looking beyond the marquee numbers of shootings and murders, there were 1,141 property crimes and 415 violent crimes (excluding common assault) in Area 1 – a 16% and 12% drop, respectively, from October 2016.

In Area 2, there were 856 property crimes and 430 violent crimes (excluding common assault). Property crime dropped 17% from October 2016, while violent crime increased 6%.

In Area 3, there were 254 property crimes and 102 violent crimes (excluding common assault), compared to 321 property crimes and 140 violent crimes (excluding common assault) in October 2016.

Spikes in two Districts

The biggest spikes in violent crime last month took place in the Northwestern and Eastern Districts.

In the Northwestern, there were 24 shootings, 4 homicides and 61 aggravated assaults last month (up from 5 shootings, 2 homicides and 37 aggravated assaults in October 2016).

In the Eastern, there were 11 shootings, 7 homicides and 39 aggravated assaults last month (compared to 5 shootings, 1 homicide and 43 aggravated assaults in October 2016).