First-ever update to City's 5-year public safety strategy highlights progress around original goals and features dedicated Youth Justice and Violence Reduction pillar.

BALTIMORE, MD (Monday, April 22, 2024) - This afternoon, Mayor Brandon M. Scott will be joined by Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) Director Stefanie Mavronis, Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley, City agency representatives, elected officials, and representatives from dozens of community-based organizations to publicly release the Biennial Update of Baltimore’s Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan (CVPP). 

This Biennial Update provides a status update on the goals outlined in the original CVPP, which was released by Mayor Scott in June 2021. The need to update the CVPP is required by the original legislation championed by Mayor Scott during his tenure as Council President and reflects the ever-evolving nature of Baltimore’s public safety priorities.

In addition to the pillars outlined in the original Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan, this Biennial Update also includes, for the first time, a specific Youth Justice pillar focused on uplifting the safety of Baltimore’s young people, investing in their future, and paving the way for their – and Baltimore’s – success. 

“Our comprehensive, public health-informed approach to public safety in Baltimore has achieved remarkable results in its first two years of implementation, but there is still significant work to do,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “Our efforts to build out the systems and infrastructure needed to treat violence as a public health epidemic, together with the efforts of the brave men and women at BPD, helped produce an historic 20% reduction in homicides in 2023. As of April 22, 2024, we are building on top of that reduction, dropping another 32.9% in homicides and 20.4% in nonfatal shootings. This Biennial Update is our roadmap to sustain the progress we’ve seen, while also adjusting to meet the ever-evolving public safety needs of our city. We must continue to do everything in our power to build real, meaningful public safety that prioritizes partnership with our communities and engages with residents in a meaningful way.”

“MONSE has been working diligently to implement Baltimore’s Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan – the City’s first-ever comprehensive, 5-year public safety strategy. Now nearly three years into its implementation, this plan shows what is possible when government, community-serving organizations, and residents work together,” said MONSE Director Stefanie Mavronis. “We understand that every single life lost to violence in Baltimore is one too many and will not stop or be deterred in this most important mission. Much work lies ahead, and we stand ready to continue making progress and show what more years of painstaking focus, commitment, and comprehensive strategies can yield for Baltimore.”

“The Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan and our partnership with Mayor Scott, MONSE, the State’s Attorney’s Office, social service providers and community members allows us to continue developing the holistic approach to reducing violence in Baltimore,” said Police Commissioner Richard Worley. “I am committed to building on this foundation for long-term public safety in Baltimore.”

In 2020, the Baltimore City Council, led by then-Council President Brandon M. Scott, passed the Biennial Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan Ordinance 20-364B. This law directs the Mayor to develop a comprehensive anti-violence plan that employs a public health approach – implementing strategies that are trauma-informed, reduce harm, and heal individuals and communities. 

Following extensive collaboration across City and state agencies, community-based organizations, and public feedback from residents, Mayor Scott released Baltimore’s first-ever Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan (CVPP) on June 25, 2021. This five-year plan began the work of building a foundation for long-term public safety, with an ultimate goal of sustained and coordinated reductions in violence through the implementation of an all-hands-on-deck approach. 

Over the last three years, the City has engaged residents, partner agencies, neighborhood associations, businesses, and other stakeholders to implement this holistic violence prevention strategy, ensure accountability, and align public agencies and community partners in the broader pursuit of more public safety with more justice and less harm. 

The Biennial Update includes both reports on steps taken, and progress made to the original CVPP, as well as additions with new strategies and goals to maintain progress moving forward.

Topline progress to date includes: 

• Launching a Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS) pilot in the Western Police District.
• Expanding GVRS to the Southwestern, Central, and Eastern Police Districts.
• Creating Baltimore’s first Community Violence Intervention (CVI) Ecosystem.
• Strengthening operations and oversight of Safe Streets Baltimore, Baltimore City’s flagship violence intervention program.
• Expanding victim services at the local government level for gunshot victims and residents indirectly impacted by violence.
• Strengthening services for survivors of human trafficking and intimate partner violence.
• Creating a Coordinated Neighborhood Stabilization Response (CNSR) protocol to support residents following traumatic incidents in their communities.
• Expanding community policing initiatives.
• Implementing Neighborhood Policing Plan pilots in three neighborhoods across West and South Baltimore.
• Allocating millions of dollars to support community-based organizations involved in the co-production of public safety. 

Notable additions and new goals include:

• Expanding the SideStep Pre-Arrest Youth Diversion program citywide by the end of FY ‘24. 
• Fully launching a School-Based Violence Intervention pilot in four high schools in time for the 2024 / 2025 school year. 
• Expanding GVRS to the Southern District by the end of the 2024 calendar year. 
• Fully activating Safe Return Plans for returning citizens prior to release in FY ‘25. 
• Activating strategic coordination across Baltimore’s Community Violence Intervention ecosystem in FY ‘25. 
• Beginning Neighborhood Policing Plan implementation for selected neighborhoods in FY ‘26. 

Residents are able to submit feedback on the update at: https://bit.ly/BiennialUpdateFeedbackForm. 

A one-pager showcasing additional topline accomplishments is available on MONSE’s website.