Your 2012 Demographics of the Day post

[ulmont]

dps: "no humans involved."

[CountDeMoney]

There may also be something else at work.  There is a popular perception that cops really don't much care if a drug dealer or drug addict gets killed in a drug deal gone sour, or even killings in a turf war between drug dealers, as long as innocent bystanders aren't getting killed, too.  I'm not sure if that perception is accurate or not--Seedy could address the issue--but if it is, then it might explain why the closure rate is so low when so many of the killings appear to be drug-related.

They care, but they can only work with what they've got--in certain areas, and with regard to certain crimes, nobody talks to the cops here, ever.  For gang- and drug-related shootings, they rarely have anything to go on, because nobody saw nuffin'.   No witnesses, nobody talks.  That, and there's been a huge upswing in the fine art of witness-killing here the last several years that's made the papers doesn't help, either.  That is absolutely the biggest part of the problem:  the community won't share, and can't share.  Talking to the police gets your house firebombed.

One thing that has definitely impacted the closure rate of the homicides from the police side, which at one time used to be damned good, is leadership's insistence on rotating Homicide detectives in and out.  Once upon a time, you'd have Homicide detectives assigned to specific districts for years and years, ones that knew the district and its players like the backs of their hands, guys that worked shootings for 15 years.  Now, for organizational health and the requirements of the City Council who need personnel quotas in specialized units, there's a ton of personnel movement all the time, and nobody sticks around very long to achieve veteran status anymore, and there are very few Homicide veterans;  a detective that's been working Auto Crimes for the last 4 years is suddenly in Homicide, and a detective that's built up 8 years of Homicide experience finds himself transferred out to Robbery, because a detective sergeant slot is still a detective sergeant slot in the org chart.  For certain units there's some experience overlay, like with Organized Crime or Youth, but oftentimes not--so you've got a lot of Homicide detectives learning as they go, and by the time they've established enough proficiency, they're shuffled elsewhere.

I'm all for an organization's promotion opportunity and diversity, but for some things, you simply can't replace institutional knowledge and experience and expect the same results.  But Law Enforcement administration and management isn't always known for its smarts.

Interesting though; what a lot of the statistics don't mention is how several shootings/killings are actually part of the same incident, and can stretch out over hours, days and even weeks;  they're not always single cases.  Pookie gets shot by Donte because he's pinching his corner, so Pookie's friends have to go shoot up Donte's house 6 hours later, and then Donte's friends have to go find Pookie's boys and shoot them up the following day, and so on.  There's a distinct, linear connection to many shootings that way;  you could have 4 or 6 homicides over the course of 3 or 4 weeks that all stem from a single incident.

[The Brain]

I've seen The Wire.

[CountDeMoney]

Interesting though; what a lot of the statistics don't mention is how several shootings/killings are actually part of the same incident, and can stretch out over hours, days and even weeks;  they're not always single cases.  Pookie gets shot by Donte because he's pinching his corner, so Pookie's friends have to go shoot up Donte's house 6 hours later, and then Donte's friends have to go find Pookie's boys and shoot them up the following day, and so on.  There's a distinct, linear connection to many shootings that way;  you could have 4 or 6 homicides over the course of 3 or 4 weeks that all stem from a single incident.

For you more socially sensitive types, I've provided an alternative narrative of the above.

Interesting though; what a lot of the statistics don't mention is how several shootings/killings are actually part of the same incident, and can stretch out over hours, days and even weeks;  they're not always single cases.  Christian gets shot by Dylan because he's pinching his corner, so Christian's friends have to go shoot up Dylan's house 6 hours later, and then Dylan's friends have to go find Christian's boys and shoot them up the following day, and so on.  There's a distinct, linear connection to many shootings that way;  you could have 4 or 6 homicides over the course of 3 or 4 weeks that all stem from a single incident.

[Josquius]

I guess we need some sort of risk free way to tell something to the police. Nark.com so to speak. Trouble is how to do it in a way that is safe from abuse...
Do you not have much cctv there?

[CountDeMoney]

I've seen The Wire.

Go fuck yourself with the complete DVD collection.

[The Brain]

I've seen The Wire.

Go fuck yourself with the complete DVD collection.

Testy. I like it.

[CountDeMoney]

I guess we need some sort of risk free way to tell something to the police. Nark.com so to speak. Trouble is how to do it in a way that is safe from abuse...
Do you not have much cctv there?

Tons of CCTV.  It's actually a fantastic system, and has produced results, not just for shootings, but for all sorts of personal and property crimes.
They stopped shooting at the cameras years ago.

[CountDeMoney]

More statistical stuff:

Violence errupted across Baltimore late Friday leaving three men dead of gunshot wounds and another person stabbed to death, ending a New Year's lull in which the city had seen shootings but no killings.

Police identified the first fatal victim of gun violence in 2013 as 18-year-old Darius Shields. Officers responded to a shooting shortly before 8pm in the 500 block of E. Patapsco Ave. in the Brooklyn neighborhood and found Shields suffering a gunshot wound to his upper chest, police said.

Medics took him to Shock Trauma but he was pronounced dead at 8:29 p.m., police said.
 
A few hours later, officers were called for reports of gunshots in the 2300 block of W. Lanvale Street, police said. An officer found Delroy Davis, 20, lying face up between two homes with multiple gunshot wounds to his torso, police said. He was also taken to Shock Trauma and pronounced dead there.

Then in the early hours of Saturday, a patrol officer in the 200 block of N. Franklintown Road came across a parked black Toyota Camry with the front doors wide open, police said, and its windshield and windows riddled with bullet holes.

Two men inside had each been shot multiple times, according to police. One of them, identified as Tavon Pierson, was declared dead at Shock Trauma in the early hours of Saturday morning, police said. The other man has not been identified.

Police believe another man shot at the pair before fleeing the scene in a green Honda Accord with a partner.

Earlier in the evening a 19-year-old man who officers have not identified was shot in the leg and taken to an area hospital, where police said he is in good condition.

Additionally, police said someone was fatally stabbed in the 5400 block of York Road, but had no other information. Earlier in the afternoon someone shot themselves in the 1800 blk of Penrose Ave, police said.

Previously, there had been about a dozen non-fatal shootings in the city in 2013 and no shooting homicides. In the last four years, the average ratio of non-fatal to fatal shootings has been a little more than two-to-one.

3 KIA, Firearm
2 WIA, Firearm
1 KIA, Knife

Stats are atrocious so far this year.  They're not even hitting their body weight.