Baltimoreans should hope the mayor and the city’s chief prosecutor iron out their differences because, if not, it will once again look to the world like we can’t have nice things.

The number of homicides committed within the city limits fell again in 2025 – there were 132 as of December 21, or 57 fewer than at the same point last year. But what was the recent headline? “Bates cutting ties with mayor’s public safety office.”

A seemingly petty, though legally nuanced, squabble has surfaced in the final month of the year: State’s Attorney Ivan Bates believes his staff has not been kept informed of the specific assistance Mayor Brandon Scott’s staff offers victims and witnesses of violent crime as part of the mayor’s heralded Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS).

Not having that information could jeopardize the prosecution of certain defendants, so Bates opted to end his office’s relationship with the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, the office coordinating the GVRS.

In 2022, there were 334 homicides in Baltimore. As of yesterday (December 21), there were 132 in 2025.

There was a back-and-forth of letters between Bates and Scott. (The two men met face-to-face last Wednesday and “had a productive conversation,” Scott’s office said.)

Here’s a holiday wish that they work things out because, as I told Bates during a meeting in his office on Monday to review Baltimore’s year in violent crime, a public snit is not a good look – especially when there should be general satisfaction, and even optimism, about the trends in violent crime.

Just three years ago, Baltimore finished 2022 with 334 homicides. That was the eighth straight year of 300-plus murders across the city, covering the two terms of Bates’ predecessor, Marilyn Mosby. Baltimore voters chose Bates, a defense attorney, over Mosby and Thiru Vignarajah in the 2022 election.

Remarkably, the homicide count for the next year, Bates’ first in office, dropped to 262.

While that significant drop could not be attributed solely to a change in leadership in the State’s Attorney’s Office, Bates’ first-year record was worth noting: Prosecutors recorded 125 guilty verdicts or pleas in homicide cases – 32 more than had been recorded the previous year, Mosby’s last.

Sitting Down with Bates

It was a good trend – more convictions, fewer homicides – but would it last?

So far, it has.

Which is why I went to see Bates last week, to get his take on how prosecution is contributing to the drop in violence across the city. In 2024, there were 202 homicides.

It’s looking like Baltimore could finish 2025 with fewer than 200 homicides, the first time that has happened since 2011.

There were 198 homicides that year. Gregg Bernstein had succeeded Patricia Jessamy as state’s attorney, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake had succeeded Sheila Dixon as mayor, and the police commissioner was Fred Bealefeld, who focused law enforcement on “bad guys with guns” – that is, the repeat violent offenders suspected of causing most of the shootings and murders in Baltimore.

They have likewise been Bates’ focus as state’s attorney. Here’s some of what we talked about last Monday, the interview edited for brevity and clarity.

DR: When I last spoke to you, you were talking about hiring more staff to prosecute more cases. Did you?

IB: When we came in, the office had 140 prosecutors and about 140 support staff. We’re now 200 and 200, so that’s 120 new people. We’re able to do a lot more, and this past year we were able to go back and recruit former prosecutors that went to be assistant U.S attorneys or work for the [Maryland] Attorney General. That brought levels of skill to this office that the office hadn’t had. We’ve gotten some outstanding people.

“We’re partnering with the U.S Attorney’s Office. Teams meet every month at a minimum to go over cases.”

DR: What about coordination with the feds? That’s been an important piece of the violence reduction. There’s a new U.S. Attorney in town, so how’s that going?

IB: We’re working closely with the feds. We’ve been able to take down some really big groups and violent drug gangs. We’ve been able to work with the federal task force to do that. We’re partnering with the U.S Attorney’s Office. Teams meet every month at a minimum to go over cases.

DR: How does working with the new U.S. Attorney [Kelly Hayes] compare with her predecessor, Erek Barron?

IB: Erek was a friend of mine, and he’s always going to be a friend, so we had a different relationship. I think Erek had a little bit more freedom to do certain things where Kelly has freedom, but there are other things that her office is looking at . . .

DR: Like arresting immigrants?

IB: That I don’t get into. Both of them [Barron and Hayes] are very professional, very good at what they do, and from our standpoint, you know, it’s not so much myself or Erek or Kelly, it’s what our people were doing. And our people never missed a beat, I think, with the federal agencies. Our priority is still going after the bad guys.

DR: Let’s talk about that, the focus on repeat violent offenders and the GVRS, intervening to stop violence before it happens.

IB: I feel like the citizens elected me for the entire aspect of public safety in Baltimore City. When you look at all the cases we do – about 4,000 cases a year – the GVRS is about 5 percent of everything that we do. I’m gonna share a chart with you . . .

(Note: At this point, Bates referred to data on his phone about felons charged with gun possession, a violation of law that carries a five-year mandatory sentence in Maryland. His staff later confirmed his numbers.)

IB: It’s not about the arrests, it’s what you do with the cases. For instance, we looked at cases from 2018 to 2025. There have been 5,069 gun convictions.

So, I’m gonna pull out a year, 2022. In 2022, before I got here, there were 870 [felon]-found-in-possession pleas. These are the bad people who are the repeat violent offenders. That year, 267 of those individuals went to prison. We had [334] murders that year, but they were getting suspended sentences or probation and going home.

“We’ve really focused on the guns, the guns, the guns by the repeat violent offenders.”

Let’s look at 2025. In 2025, there were 664 people who were found guilty of these gun-related offenses. But 432 of them went to prison for five years without the possibility of parole. And in another year, 2023 — 698 individuals had gun convictions, and [judges] ended up giving 408 individuals five years without the possibility of parole. Then in 2024, 733 individuals pleaded guilty to these gun offenses and 504 of them went to prison for five years without the possibility of parole.

So, in my three years, 1,344 people went to prison for guns who were repeat violent offenders. In the five years before that, it was 1,100 people. So, we’ve really focused on the guns, the guns, the guns by the repeat violent offenders.

DR: It’s not like Mosby’s office wasn’t doing anything.

IB: You’re right, they were. But they weren’t asking for the [mandatory sentences], and that’s the difference. We flipped the switch on that.

(Note: At this point in the interview, Bates referred to convictions, in both state and federal court, for murder and gun possession over the last three years, emphasizing that hundreds of repeat violent offenders are now in prison, rather than committing crime in Baltimore.)

DR: Some people are under the impression that crime is just naturally falling all across America, that there’s a natural cycle or something, and Baltimore is no different than any other place.

IB: I’m one who believes that you can have all these programs, but you have to have good old-fashioned police work, police making arrests, police bringing good cases, and the state’s attorney’s office having a skill set, an ability to prosecute. And we’ve been able to do that.

DR: I’m curious. You were a defense attorney before becoming state’s attorney. Do any of your old clients end up on those lists that you’re talking about? Do you see familiar names?

IB: I do. Yeah, I do sometimes. They’re young guys. Sometimes those are the easiest ones for me to prosecute because I’m like, “I told you about changing your life and you didn’t, so I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, I would much rather prosecute you than read your obituary.”

(Note: At this point, we discussed the problem of recidivism: Offenders doing time in prison, then being released and returning to the same criminal behaviors that got them locked up.)

If we’re sending you to prison, you’re not pulling the trigger to kill somebody, and it gives you an opportunity to sit down and think about your life choices. Hopefully they’ll go ahead and really change.

DR: I hope so. It’s when they come out of prison unprepared and the cycle begins again that’s depressing. One last thing: What do you say to people who, despite the drop in shootings and homicides, still believe Baltimore is not safe. They don’t even visit.

IB: People’s perceptions are reality. But I ask them to give us a chance. In terms of violent crime, without a doubt, the numbers show that they’re going down. In terms of our quality of life, we do have a long way to go. When your car’s broken into, and they steal your things — that could happen in any city.

But, unfortunately, because Baltimore already has this reputation, you’re like, “Oh my God!” And I get it. But I think that the only way we’re going to change this reputation is if people give us a chance. Give us a chance to see what’s here. I talk to people around the state. I say, ‘You know what I did? I went down to Cinghiale [in Harbor East] for dinner, and it was a really great experience.” Give us a chance because at the end of the day, when Baltimore wins, the state wins.