Is Baltimore Safe? 2016 Murder Rate Nears Record High As Homicide Cases Remain Open

The Baltimore City Police Department have closed homicide cases in 2016 at a rate significantly lower than the national average, according to a local report Thursday. Homicide detectives within the department cleared 38 percent of its 216 reported cases in 2016. The national average was roughly 62 percent.

Relative to another U.S. city with a similar population size, police in Memphis, Tennessee, cleared 71 percent of its 224 homicides in 2016.

2016 has already become the second deadliest year in Baltimore's history, with reportedly 310 homicides — trailing only 2015 where there were 344.

The homicide rate was reported to be 50 killings per 100,000 residents as of Dec. 21, the second highest in Baltimore history after the 2015 record of 55.2 killings per 100,000 residents. The 2016 numbers signify that Baltimore, which has a population of roughly 620,000 people, has not only become one of the deadliest city in the U.S., but in the entire world. About one in every 2,000 city residents were killed this year.

Approximately 90 percent of the homicides in 2015 were caused by shootings. More than 90 percent of the homicide victims in 2015 were boys or men, with more than 50 percent of that number being between the ages of 18 and 30. And at least 90 percent of homicide victims that year were black.

Eleven people were reportedly shot throughout the city Tuesday and two of those victims were killed. Three Baltimore residents were additionally shot within an hour Wednesday afternoon; they were all in different locations, according to the Baltimore Sun.

But the police force's homicide clearance rate differed vastly from that in Baltimore County, which cleared 28 of its 34 homicide cases reported this year.

Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson credited his officers and cited community engagement as the reasons for the discrepancy. Baltimore County saw its lowest homicide rate in 7 years, he said.

"We've got great detectives to begin with,” he told local reporters. “Most of the homicides in the county are domestic or associate related."

A controversial video was released Wednesday of a police killing that occurred in Baltimore County on Friday. It showed a 48-year-old black man who was shot and killed after he allegedly wielded a knife towards officers. The shooting victim was walking in the opposite direction when the officer issued the fatal shot. The seven-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department has been placed on administrative leave.