On Sandtown-Winchester blocks long scarred by gunfire, a neighborhood violence-intervention crew says the rhythm of daily life is finally starting to change. Residents and staff at the Safe Streets site point to round-the-clock mediation, steady outreach, and quick links to services as reasons why street beefs are getting settled before they turn deadly.
How Safe Streets Works In Sandtown
Catholic Charities and Safe Streets Baltimore are marking a 10-year partnership that leaders say has pushed the work from pure crisis response to a constant community presence. Sandtown Site Director Nicole Warren tells neighbors, "I'm always at work," and Violence Prevention Coordinator William Stewart says staff live in the neighborhood and show up day after day to build trust. That on-the-block consistency lined up with Sandtown Safe Streets mediating 91 potentially violent conflicts in 2025, and staff say their focus is increasingly on connecting people to housing, food, and jobs, according to CBS Baltimore.
Citywide Trends Back Local Gains
The neighborhood wins are landing at the same time as a broader citywide turnaround. The U.S. Attorney’s Office reported that Baltimore logged 133 homicides in 2025, the fewest annual total in roughly 50 years. The Baltimore Police Department's 2025 mid-year report also flagged double-digit drops in gun violence, better clearance rates, and thousands of firearms seized, which officials hold up as evidence that enforcement and intervention are finally pulling in the same direction.
Federal prosecutors say coordinated prosecutions and community programs both contributed to the decline, per the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Small Wins, Fragile Progress
No one is pretending the job is done. As of yesterday morning, Baltimore had 24 homicides in 2026 compared with 29 at the same point in 2025, a snapshot that community groups say only underscores how badly the work needs steady funding and attention to keep moving.
"We're trying to take all hoods back to neighborhoods, back to communities where people feel safe living," Safe Streets at Catholic Charities program director Greg Marshburn said, as reported by CBS Baltimore.
What’s Next
Program directors say the next chapter will lean harder on data and tighter coordination with city agencies to figure out where interventions can be scaled up. Local coverage has repeatedly stressed both the promise of Baltimore’s community violence intervention network and the need for oversight, stable funding, and deep neighborhood trust as the work shifts from emergency response to long-haul rebuilding, as violent crime in Baltimore plummets.
