Making Our Streets and Neighborhoods Safe

Martin O’Malley believes public safety is the most basic responsibility of government and the foundation on which every successful community must be built. During his tenure, Mayor O’Malley teamed up with the Police Department and the people of Baltimore to enact a public safety strategy which produced the nation’s largest big city reduction in violent crime at the time – nearly 40 since 1999. Baltimore is advancing because of the courage of a community willing to tackle seemingly stubborn problems. Through years of tireless work and the leadership of the brave men and women of the police force, Martin O’Malley has changed Baltimore for the better and saved lives.

• Martin O’Malley has cut Baltimore’s violent crime by nearly 40% – the largest decline among all major U.S. cities, and Baltimore’s lowest levels since the 1960s.

• Martin O’Malley shattered Baltimore’s string of 10+ years of more than 300 homicides, cutting homicides by an average of 18%. During his term as Mayor, the city recorded its fewest homicides since 1988.

• Martin O’Malley has fought for tougher sentences and lifetime tracking for sexual offenders, including the use of GPS technology.

• Martin O’Malley’s Operation Safe Kids – a partnership to help at-risk youth led by Baltimore’s Health Department – has achieved a 43% reduction in arrests for young people in the program. In May 2005, O’Malley outlined his Ten-Point Plan to Reform the Department of Juvenile Services.

• Martin O’Malley has increased the salaries of police officers.

• Martin O’Malley reduced citizen complaints of police officer excessive force and discourtesy and diversified the ranks of the Baltimore City’s Police Department by hiring more minorities and women.

• Martin O’Malley reformed public safety, resulting in more than 250 people being alive today and 24,000 fewer people being victims of violence.

• Martin O’Malley tackled the problem of drug addicted residents head on and led the fight to double the funding available for drug treatment. As a result, Baltimore had the nation’s second largest decline in drug-related emergency room visits.

• Martin O’Malley has made Baltimore a safer city and because of that, the city’s five decade long population loss has ended and new residential and commercial investment in the city has skyrocketed.