2015–2021 Term Report

MARCH 2021
The SAO announced the oneyear
success of the Covid
Criminal Justice policies
alongside the Mayor’s Office
on Neighborhood Safety and
Engagement (MONSE) and
partners from Baltimore Crisis
Response Inc., Johns Hopkins
University, the National
Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP), and
other stakeholders. The policies
enacted over since March of
2020 resulted in a decrease in
arrests, no adverse impact on
the crime rate, and address the
systemic inequity of mass
incarceration. Therefore, the
State’s Attorney also announced
today the permanent adoption
of these policies as we continue
to prioritize the prosecution
of public safety crimes over
low-level, non-violent offenses.
A new report from researchers
at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School
of Public Heath found that Baltimore’s
no-prosecution policy for minor drug
possession and prostitution, enacted
at the start of the COVID-19
pandemic, led to fewer new low-level
drug and prostitution arrests, almost
no rearrests for serious crimes for
those who had charges dropped,
and fewer 911 calls.
YEAR
SEVEN
APRIL 2021
The SAO launched a series
of nine virtual town hall
meetings in each police
district throughout the city,
in partnership with local
community organizations
and BPD. These events provided
the community with a Q&A
discussion on the continuing
COVID-19 prosecution policies
and the SAO’s new approach to
focus resources on violent
crimes and the needs of victims.
The Johns Hopkins report found
AN ESTIMATED 443 NEW
DRUG/PARAPHERNALIA
POSSESSION AND PROSTITUTION
ARRESTS WERE AVERTED as a result
of the new no-prosecution policy, 78
percent of which were averted in the
Black community. Of the 741 people
whose drug and prostitution charges
were dropped, six—less than 1
percent—had new arrests for serious
crimes during the study period. Calls
to 911 about drug/paraphernalia and
prostitution declined significantly in
the post-policy change period.
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33ANGLE-RI Sao at a glance 2021