BALTIMORE — Safe Streets Baltimore is marking another major milestone in its effort to curb violence in the city.
Penn North Safe Streets marks 368 days without a homicide
Mayor Brandon Scott, along with the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) and Catholic Charities, announced the site has reached the landmark of going over one year without a homicide in its catchment area.
City Hall says the last time the site saw a homicide was on May 23, 2025, in the 1800 block of N Woodyear Street.
This would make the official count 368 days. Penn North is not alone in reaching the milestone this year.
"Together with Woodbourne-McCabe and Park Heights, now marks 4 sites that have reached this milestone this year, and we're not even halfway through 2026," Scott said.
How did Safe Streets reach this milestone?
Authorities say the site has conducted over 108 successful mediations and held 45 community events, bringing resources into the community and spreading anti-violence messaging during this time period.
Last year alone, Safe Streets mediated over 1,752 potentially violent conflicts across all 10 sites.
"Thank y'all for believing in Penn North because a lot of people didn't believe in us," Rochelle Johnson, the Safe Streets supervisor in Penn North, said. "We do a multitude of things in our community, such as drug addiction, mental health. Anybody just can't do this work; we live and we breathe this work because we are from here. Who can better serve your community, besides you?"
Leaders say that's why Safe Streets works so well.
Neighbors told WMAR 2-News' Taylor Epps that they can feel the difference in their neighborhood.
Mayor Scott clarified that while this is a milestone, it is not a celebration.
"We're acknowledging that we've made historic progress on homicides, and we look at the rate of overdoses dropping, but none of us are saying yay, this is over," Scott said.
Leaders say that means continuing to engage and invest in the community as is outlined in the Mayor's violence prevention plan.
“This work has helped produce historic reductions in shootings and homicides in Baltimore’s most disinvested communities, and the Penn North site going over 365 days without a homicide is yet another example that community violence intervention truly does work,” Scott said.
