With his dad in prison and his mom suffering from alcoholism, Malik Grant faced abandonment and instability early on. Outreach workers from a Baltimore anti-violence program offered to help him stay safe and leave the streets behind, Two years later, Grant has an apartment and a full-time job with the city’s Department of Public Works. He started his own business that provides cleaning, landscaping and junk removal services. Grant, 29, is among 200 people receiving support through Baltimore’s Group Violence Reduction Strategy, which targets the root causes of gun violence: hopelessness, joblessness, poverty, mental health, substance abuse, housing instability, poor conflict resolution and more, the Associated Press reports. The program uses a “carrot and stick” approach. It offers resources and social services to those most likely to become shooters or victims. If they stay involved in crime, they face police investigation and prosecution, which has led to over 350 arrests since the strategy launched in 2022.
Baltimore recorded 201 homicides in 2024, the lowest annual total in over a decade and a 23% drop from the previous year. Nonfatal shootings also have fallen significantly. The data echo nationwide trends Philadelphia and Detroit are among those recording a recent drop in homicides. It’s a relief for Baltimore, where gun violence surged after the 2015 death of Freddie Gray exposed an urgent need for police reform. While other factors contributed to the decrease, including changes in policing and strong detective work, city leaders are quick to credit efforts like the Group Violence Reduction Strategy. The program assigns each participant a life coach to help navigate everything from obtaining a driver’s license and opening a bank account to applying for food stamps, earning a GED, finding stable housing and holding down a job. Experts say so-called “focused deterrence” programs are among the best ways to reduce gun violence, but Baltimore has tried and failed to implement similar strategies in the past. “It’s a hard thing to get right,” said Daniel Webster, a professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Gun Violence Solutions in Baltimore. “What you really want that program to do is change an entire system of how law enforcement works to combat gun violence.”