Baltimore bloodshed drops as law-and-order push targets repeat criminals

Baltimore recorded a sharp drop in homicides in 2025, continuing a multi-year decline that city prosecutors say is the result of tough on crime policing of repeat violent offenders.

According to statistics provided by the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, homicides fell to 134 in 2025, down from 202 in 2024, 263 in 2023 and 334 in 2022.

"You know, when I came into this office, we'd had eight consecutive years of 300 plus murders," Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates told Fox News Digital. "The only way you're going to focus on violent crime in Baltimore City is you must put repeat violent offenders in prison."

"When we were sworn in, we said, ‘If you’re a repeat violent offender, bring a toothbrush.’ That was the message we sent – meaning we’re going to send you to jail," he said.

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Bates, who took office in January 2023, said his administration shifted the office’s approach to enforcing mandatory minimum sentences for repeat offenders, which he says was inconsistently applied previously.

State data show that in 2022, police arrested 1,577 repeat violent offenders. Of those, 869 were convicted, but only 267, or 31%, were sentenced.

Under Bates, the percentage of repeat offenders sentenced has risen sharply: 58% in 2023, 69% in 2024 and 65% in 2025.

"This year alone, out of the 1,160 repeat violent offenders, 682 were found guilty of that offense. We sent 443 of them to prison," Bates said. "That's 65% of them."

Maryland law allows prosecutors to seek a five-year mandatory prison sentence without parole for repeat offenders found in possession of illegal firearms. Bates said that enforcing state law has been central to his office’s strategy to

"That means it's a small group of individuals in Baltimore who are robbing, shooting and killing individuals," he said. "By finding them guilty, they're now removed from the community for a minimum of five years without the possibility of parole."

Police arrests of repeat gun offenders have declined over the same period, according to the data: 1,294 arrests in 2023, 1,246 in 2024, and 1,160 in 2025. Bates said that shows that there are few repeat offenders still on the streets.

"That tells me that we've been taking the repeat violent offenders off the streets," he said.

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In addition to sentencing changes, Bates pointed to increased cooperation with federal agencies, including the FBI, DEA, ATF and neighboring Baltimore County.

Through the city’s Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS) and through partnering with the federal government to disrupt drug trade within the city.

"The silent partner has really also been the federal authorities," he said. "We're able to take down large drug organizations in a manner and a way we haven't been able to do."

Bates also credits rebuilding the State’s Attorney’s Office, which he said had been understaffed when he took office.

"When I came into office in 2023, we only had 140 lawyers," he said. "Our office went from 140 prosecutors to 200 prosecutors."

While national crime rates have declined in recent years, Bates said Baltimore’s drop has outpaced national trends, though he cautioned that the gains could be temporary without investment in re-entry programs.

"If we do not do the hard work of investing and giving individuals an opportunity in an exit lane to get out of the criminal life, we can see that type of behavior rearing its head," he said.

Bates said his office is working with state leaders on programs aimed at repeat offenders returning from prison but acknowledged that prosecutors alone cannot address recidivism.

"I'm here on behalf of the victim. The victim, the victim, the victim," Bates said. "There are some people that must go to jail and some of them need to be in jail the rest of their natural born lives."

"My job as the state's attorney is to stand up for the victims and make sure our community is safe as possible," he said.

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Despite the citywide decline, Baltimore’s entertainment districts, including Federal Hill, have continued to experience shootings.

Police expert Jason Johnson told WBFF, "Obviously, homicides and non-fatal shootings are down, which is fantastic. But that leaves us with some of these crimes that are just as likely to drive people out of the city or dismay people from even visiting the city."

Baltimore is not the only city seeing a decrease in homicides, with murder rates falling across cities in the U.S. in 2025.

The Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) report weighed crime statistics from 40 cities that have reported monthly data for the past eight years. It found 11 of 13 crime categories dropped in 2025 compared to 2024. Nine of them dropped by 10% or more, including homicides, which saw a 21% drop.

"President Trump promised to bring back Law and Order to the United States of America," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X Thursday morning, along with a chart from the Council on Criminal Justice showing the country saw its lowest homicide rate since 1900. "This is what happens when you have a President who fully mobilizes federal law enforcement to arrest violent criminals and the worst of the worst illegal aliens."

Fox News Digital's Julia Bonavita and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.