Baltimore, MD – Nov. 22, 2023  – The Thanksgiving table can be a battlefield. For all the familial love and intimacy that can come with the holiday, it can put those who have chosen Baltimore as their homes on a collision course with “concerned” and “well-meaning” family members dead set on trashing our beautiful city.

This year, we’re helping cut down on the time you have to spend preparing for combat. Call it data as conversational ammo.

Here are the receipts you need to shut down that family member and get back to dinner.

“But what about the murders?”

Homicides are down this year.

This time last year Baltimore found itself near the top of the nation in homicides per capita. The city had only six fewer reported homicides in 2022 than 2021, even as killings declined by 6% nationwide.

This year, Baltimore might finally be experiencing the kind of decline in homicides that has lowered homicide rates in other cities around the country.

Through Nov. 7, homicides are down 23% from the same point last year. Baltimore’s 220 reported homicides are the fewest this late in the year in nearly a decade. As of now, Baltimore is on pace to finish the year with fewer than 300 killings for the first time since 2014.