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Baltimore Per-Capita Homicide Rate Up

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BALTIMORE (AP) - Baltimore has broken its per-capita homicide record.

In 2017, the city recorded 343 killings, bringing the homicide rate to a historical high of roughly 56 per 100,000 people. Baltimore, whose population has shrunk over decades, currently has about 615,000 inhabitants.

Some attribute the increase to more illegal guns, the fallout of the opioid epidemic, or various systemic failures.

Others blame police, accusing them of taking a hands-off approach to fighting crime since six officers were charged in connection with the 2015 death of Freddie Gray.

Baltimore's homicide rate started to surge after Gray's death in 2015, a year when the city saw over 340 slayings.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.