Ben Struhl

Executive Director of Crime and Justice Policy Lab at Univ. of Pennsylvania

[Brandon M. Scott @MayorBMScott]

As of this morning, homicides are down 25.9% and nonfatal shootings are down 36% compared to this time last year on top of the roughly 20% drop in homicides we saw in 2023.

[Brandon M. Scott @MayorBMScott]

As of this morning, homicides are down 27.3% and nonfatal shootings are down 37.6% compared to this time last year.

[Ben Struhl @BenStruhl]

@admcrlsn I worked in politics for years and now in social science. I believe I could make five evidence-based arguments for and against each option--everyone should be uncertain! But I think some people hear one argument and it resonates so much they get hung up on it.

[Brandon M. Scott @MayorBMScott]

As of this morning, roughly halfway through the year, homicides are down 36% and nonfatal shootings are down 30% compared to this same time last year and on top of last year’s already historic reduction.

[Daniel W. Webster @DanielWWebster1]

50% drop in homicides Jan.-July from 2022 to 2024 is an incredible accomplishment! This isn’t regression to the mean or some other made up explanation for a huge drop in homicides over 2 years to a level not seen since 1970. The reduction is much larger most other cities.👏👏

[Brandon M. Scott @MayorBMScott]

Following a historic reduction in homicides in 2023, we continue to maintain our momentum so far in 2024. Through 6/3, homicides are down 37%, and nonfatal shootings are down 28% in 2024. Despite the narrative to the contrary, Carackings are down 20% well.

[Daniel W. Webster @DanielWWebster1]

How significant is Baltimore’s drop in gun violence? Ask the White House. Incredible reduction in gun violence in Baltimore. So many ppl have committed themselves to bringing peace to communities and it’s paid off. Raise your hand if you are one. https://t.co/61SJwYmOu2

[Justin Fenton @justin_fenton]

Looks like May in Baltimore ended with 13 homicides recorded. From 2015 to 2022, the city averaged more than 32 victims each May. 13 is one of the lowest number of victims for the month of May in the city’s modern history (since 1970). Homicides are down more than 48% since 2022

[Ben Struhl @BenStruhl]

@DanielWWebster1 Money went to pay people who gathered and cleaned data, helped with implementation, etc.

[Ben Struhl @BenStruhl]

@DanielWWebster1 As the project director I can confidently say I took $0 from the city to support my salary. We recruited two researchers to lead the evaluation work who were independent of the implementation and who did their work pro-bono. This is a silly political attack.

[Brandon M. Scott @MayorBMScott]

🧵THREAD: This is a great look at Baltimore’s work to reduce gun violence.

This isn’t about dividing us with our sister city to the south, but it’s important to talk about what’s working here in Baltimore. (1/4)

[Bharat Ramamurti @BharatRamamurti]

So much wrong with this it’s hard to know where to start.

Two sets of student loan borrowers are currently getting relief. The first: public servants, like members of the military. Under a law signed by President Bush, they get loans cancelled after ten years of service. 1/

[Brandon M. Scott @MayorBMScott]

Today, I was joined by @BaltimoreMONSE, @BaltimorePolice, @BaltimoreSAO, @YAPInc, @RocaInc, the @OAGMaryland’s office, and local leaders to announce the expansion of Baltimore’s Group Violence Reduction Strategy into the Central District.

[Brandon M. Scott @MayorBMScott]

Our Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS) is working.

It’s helping to drive down violence across our city and is changing lives in our neighborhoods.

Now is the time to expand this strategy, not go back to the old, broken ways of the past.

[Hank Green @hankgreen]

I think a harm of online activism is the "THIS IS ACTUALLY EASY" argument.

I've seen lots of folks indicate that a single billionaire could solve homelessness, or that there are 30x more houses than homeless people so we could just give them all houses.

These words are fantastic for activating people, but they are also lies.

The US government currently spends around 50B per year keeping people housed. States, of course, have their own budgets. If Bill Gates spent the same amount of money the US does just to keep people housed, he would be out of money in 3 years. I think that would be a great use of his money, but it would not be a permanent solution.

The statistics about there being more houses than homeless are just...fake. They rely on looking at extremely low estimates of homelessness (which are never used in any other context) and include normal vacancy rates (an apartment is counted as vacant even if it's only vacant for a month while the landlord is finding a new tenant.) In a country with 150,000,000 housing units, a 2% vacancy rate is three million units, which, yes, is greater than the homeless population. But a 2% vacancy rate is extremely low (and bad, because it means there's fewer available units than there are people looking to move, which drives the price of rent higher.)

Housing should not be an option in this country. It should be something we spend tons of money on. It should be a priority for every leader and every citizen. it should also be interfaced with in real, complex ways. And it should be remembered that the main way we solve the problem is BUILDING MORE HOUSING, which I find a whole lot of my peers in seemingly progressive spaces ARE ACTUALLY OPPOSED TO.

Sometimes they are opposed to it because they've heard stats that the problem is simple and could be solved very easily if only we would just decide to solve it, which is DOING REAL DAMAGE.

By telling the simplest version of the story, you can get people riled up, but what do you do with that once they're riled up if they were riled up by lies?

There are only two paths:

1. Tell them the truth...that everything they've been told is actually a lie and that the problem is actually hard. And, because the problem is both big and hard, tons of people are working very hard on it, and they should be grateful for (or even become) one of those people.

2. Keep lying until they are convinced that the problem does not exist because it is hard, it exists because people are evil.

Or, I guess, #3, people could just be angry and sad all the time, which is also not great for affecting real change.

I dunno...I'm aware that people aren't doing this because they want to create a problem, and often they believe the fake stats they are quoting, but I do not think it is doing more good than harm, and I would like to see folks doing less of it.

One thing that definitely does more good than harm is actually connecting to the complexity of an issue that is important to you. Do that...and see that there are many people working hard.

We do not have any big, easy problems. If we did, they'd be solved. I'm sorry, it's a bummer, but here we are.

[Brandon M. Scott @MayorBMScott]

Don't let the naysayers, player haters, and fake news makers fool you! It continues to be a safe bet to bet big on Baltimore.

@nytimes puts Baltimore #14 on their list of place to visit around the world in 2024!

I know @BaltimoreMD is ready to welcome everyone this year.

[Omar Jimenez @OmarJimenez]

For the first time in nearly a decade, the city of Baltimore is set to have fewer than 300 murders this year, and they're seeing about a 20% drop compared to last year. @MayorBMScott says some of what they've been able to accomplish can be done in cities across the US.

[Daniel W. Webster @DanielWWebster1]

Baltimore 2023 vs 2022: Homicides -22%, car jackings - 18%, rapes -19%, nonfatal shootings -5%, aggravated assaults -4%. And murders are not primarily confined to drug corners and the drug trade - not for quite some time. Merry Christmas!

[Megan Stevenson @MeganTStevenson]

🚨New paper!

There’s a massive system to get defendants to appear in court, including bail and pretrial detention.

Our study shows it’s not defendants who miss court most, it’s other required actors: police officers, lawyers, and civilian witnesses. 1/

https://t.co/qxT6frHHf2

[Bicoloured-Python-Rock-Snake 🦬🪐🌲 @pythonrocksnake]

And if it's anything like last time, local media is going to be telling people outside the path that they'll see 90% or 95% of an eclipse & many will say "that sounds good enough" & miss an experience of a lifetime.

95% of a total eclipse is nothing. YOU NEED TO GET TO TOTALITY.