When Brandon Scott took office in late 2020 as one of the youngest mayors in Baltimore’s history, he pledged to reduce homicides and incidents of gun violence. That year, the city of roughly 600,000 residents reported 335 homicides, making Baltimore one of the most dangerous cities per capita in the United States, reports Baltimore Chronicle with reference to the Reveal.
Scott implemented a violence prevention strategy aimed at addressing the root causes of gun violence, a program he had previously helped pass as city council president. Over the last few years, the strategy has yielded notable results.
Since 2022, Baltimore has seen a significant decrease in violent crimes, particularly homicides. In 2025, the city recorded fewer than 100 murders, and violent crime rates are approaching historic lows. Despite this progress, the White House has expressed concerns about public safety. Last month, former President Donald Trump included Baltimore among several Democratic-led cities where he considered deploying the National Guard, claiming it would help address crime. So far, troops have been sent to Los Angeles and Washington, with plans announced for Memphis; Baltimore could be next.
Scott argues that such a deployment is unnecessary and distracts from the city’s ongoing violence prevention strategy. “It’s very peculiar that this is when the president is choosing to say he needs to come in and save the city because it’s so unsafe, when in fact, when the president was in office during his first term, we had a lot more violence,” Scott said. “But the president didn’t say he was going to send in troops then. The president didn’t say he was going to help the city out then.”
On this week’s episode of More To The Story, Scott discusses with host Al Letson the true motivations behind the Trump administration’s plan to send troops to Democratic-led cities, why Baltimore’s approach to reducing gun violence appears effective, and what his political future may hold.
Earlier we wrote that Baltimore Walk to End Lupus now raises $65,000 for research.
