After 16 years, a new Johns Hopkins University study suggests Baltimore’s Safe Streets program is saving young lives — but that its effectiveness is increasingly uneven as youth violence evolves.
The study from the university’s Center for Gun Violence Solutions found the city’s violence interruption program was associated with a 42% reduction in homicides among Baltimore residents ages 15 to 24 between 2007 and 2023. Researchers also found a 21% reduction in nonfatal shootings among young people during the same period.
But the study also found the program’s impact varied dramatically across neighborhoods. While some communities saw youth homicides disappear entirely, others experienced significant increases, raising questions about whether a violence prevention model developed decades ago is keeping pace with social media-driven conflicts, changing neighborhood dynamics and easier access to firearms…