In Baltimore, 80% of Murders are Committed by Repeat Offenders

Most of Baltimore’s murders were committed by offenders with long criminal records who only served very short prison sentences or were on parole at the time of the murder.

Eighty percent of murders were known to law enforcement. Baltimore has recorded over 2,500 murders since 2015. An analysis shows that out of the 110 suspects charged with murder in the city, 90 had been previously convicted of a felony, and a quarter of these suspects were on probation at the time of the murder.

Why are previous offenders back on Baltimore’s streets? Progressive prosecutors, such as Baltimore’s Marilyn Mosby, denounced mass incarceration and decriminalized nonviolent crimes. Mosby, now under federal indictment, used a loophole in Maryland’s sentencing rules to keep these criminals from serving jail time.

There is hope for Baltimore. In last week’s Democratic primary, Baltimore voters rejected Mosby and her policies. Ivan Bates, her likely successor, promised to reverse Mosby’s policies and deal with the city’s violence by locking up repeat offenders. This follows a trend of people ousting these progressive district attorneys.

Big picture: These murders, given the nature of the known offenders, are preventable. Progressive cities like Baltimore, San Francisco, New York, Seattle, and Philadelphia have serious crime issues because prosecutors prosecute less in the name of “social justice.”