Baltimore residents who spoke with Fox News Digital this week said they do not feel safer despite city officials’ assertions that violent crime is down.
More than a dozen people interviewed in neighborhoods including Penn-North and Bolton Hill described ongoing street-level drug use, frequent fights and a sense that crime has not meaningfully receded. Several cited recent violent incidents and a July mass drug overdose that hospitalized more than two dozen people.
Mayor Brandon Scott and Gov. Wes Moore have publicly rejected a proposal from President Donald Trump to deploy National Guard troops to Baltimore as part of his wider initiative to send federal resources to cities he says are struggling with violent crime. Scott and Moore contend the city is seeing its lowest homicide rate in 50 years and on Friday announced additional Maryland law enforcement resources to support public safety.
Scott has cited preliminary 2025 figures showing 91 homicides and 218 nonfatal shootings, which he said represent declines of 29.5% and 21%, respectively. "We're good; we don't need or want the National Guard here in Baltimore," Scott said.
Residents interviewed by Fox News Digital pushed back on that narrative. Tasha, a young mother pushing a stroller in Penn-North, said she does not feel safe and urged officials to address underlying causes. "You need to be trying to figure out why people are committing and doing the crimes that they're doing," she said, adding that the neighborhood needs more recreation centers and that juvenile offenders often face light punishment.
Joseph, a Penn-North resident who was near a homeless woman sleeping on his stoop, said crime felt like it was rising. "Every time they say the crime's going low, it's not going low," he said, describing open drug use, needles and shootings he said were tied to drug activity. George, who lives in Bolton Hill, described what he called a rise in street crime, including repeated property damage and fights on weekend nights.
Some residents did express support for city leadership. Anette Lang, a Baltimore resident, praised Mayor Scott while criticizing the Trump administration’s focus on a National Guard deployment. But the majority of those interviewed said safety concerns remain top of mind.
Statistics compiled by the nonprofit research institute Just Facts show Baltimore’s 2024 murder rate remained well above national metropolitan averages; the group reported the city’s 2024 murder rate was 6.8 times the average for all metropolitan areas. Local reporting cited by residents said three of Baltimore’s seven homicides in August occurred in nearby Park Heights.
President Trump’s campaign to deploy federal resources began with operations in Washington, D.C., and his administration and allies have floated similar steps for other cities. Some Republican senators have signaled openness to deploying the National Guard to Democratic-led cities, while Democratic governors and mayors have generally opposed such federal deployments, arguing they are unnecessary and politically motivated.
Scott and Moore conducted a high-profile walk through Park Heights on Friday and announced the state would send additional Maryland law enforcement resources to bolster local efforts. Trump has publicly mocked Moore for suggesting a joint walk-through of the city.
Daren Muhammed, a local radio host who described Penn-North as "ground zero," said officials were misrepresenting crime data. Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Mayor Scott and Gov. Moore for additional comment.
The interviews reflect a divide between official crime statistics and residents’ perceptions on the ground, with community members pointing to visible signs of disorder and repeated incidents as reasons for continued concern. City and state leaders say they are pursuing reductions in violent crime and have declined the federal guard deployment while increasing state-level law enforcement support.
