Overview
- The Penn North Safe Streets catchment has gone more than 365 days without a homicide, a milestone local leaders marked with a community event and outreach activities.
- Mayor Brandon Scott and MONSE officials say the result reflects community violence intervention work that included mediators, neighborhood events, and sustained street-level outreach.
- Local recovery providers say overdose incidents and overdose deaths in the catchment have trended downward since last summer’s mass overdose, pointing to expanded naloxone distribution and canvassing.
- Safe Streets Baltimore is run within MONSE’s CVI ecosystem and contracts local groups to operate sites, with Catholic Charities serving as the Penn North site administrator.
- Program leaders and residents stress the progress is fragile and call for steady funding and services so neighborhoods can keep seeing fewer shootings, more outreach and improved daily life for residents.