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Zero-tolerance policing implemented under former Mayor Martin O?Malley has failed to slow the soaring homicide rate in Baltimore, internal police statistics indicate.

The policy targets the less-serious crimes, leading to an increase in overall arrests. But statistics obtained by The Examiner show that since 1999, the biggest drop in homicides coincided with the lowest number of arrests citywide.

And even after two straight years of more than 100,000 arrests, in 2002 and 2003, the number of homicides has not dropped to the 2001 low of 251, the stats show.

The numbers came as no surprise to some criminologists and former police officials. They argue little correlation exists between the number of arrests and violent crime.

"I?m not surprised," said former Police Commissioner Ed Norris, who presided over the most dramatic drop in homicides in the past decade, from 305 in 1999 to 261 in 2000. "I?ve never supported zero tolerance. We would make low-level arrests, but it was with a purpose. It was focused on an area that was having problems. We would have detectives on hand to debrief people to solve homicides."

Sheldon Greenberg, director of the Division of Public Safety at Johns Hopkins University, agreed arrests must be targeted.

"They need to be focused on certain crimes that may precipitate homicide, or focused toward certain people known to be on the verge of targeting victims," he said.

Since 1999, city police have arrested more than 700,000 people ? a pace of 250 people day every day for eight years. Arrests peaked at 110,000 in 2003, when the number of homicides rose nearly 7 percent.

Homicides are on pace to reach 300 for the first time since 1999, with 157 as of Monday. Police also have significantly reduced the number of arrests as part of a heavily criticized crime plan implemented by Mayor Sheila Dixon. Dixon said her plan, which focuses on targeted enforcement and more "community-oriented policing," will take time.

"The numbers show that the quantity of arrests is less important and that you can?t measure how safe we are by the number of people we arrest," she said. "We are focused on getting the most violent offenders out of our communities. Simply arresting more people won?tlower the homicide rate."

Even Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm backed off the policy at a news conference shortly after the mayor announced her crime plan.

"We can?t just enforce, enforce, enforce," he said.

Mass arrests also can have a negative effect on the community, said state delegate and mayoral candidate Jill Carter, one of the most vocal opponents of the zero-tolerance policy.

"You just criminalize an entire segment of the society. ... That makes the problem worse," Carter said. "The worst criminals were not being pursued while 100,000 people were arrested without charges."

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com

Stephen Janis

Arrests fail to cut homicide rate