Baltimore Maryland MD Warrant Search

Baltimore 'Get in on it.'Baltimore (pronounced /ˈbɒltɨmɔr/) is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the U.S. state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore City in order to distinguish it from surrounding Baltimore County. Founded in 1729, Baltimore is a major U.S. seaport and is situated closer to major Midwestern markets than any other major seaport on the East Coast. Baltimore's Inner Harbor was once the second leading port of entry for immigrants to the United States and a major manufacturing center. The harbor is now home to Harborplace, a shopping, entertainment, and tourist center, and the National Aquarium in Baltimore. After a decline in manufacturing, Baltimore shifted to a service-oriented economy. Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital are now the city's largest employers.As of 2009, the population of Baltimore was 637,418. The Baltimore Metropolitan Area has approximately 2.7 million residents; the 21st largest in the country. Baltimore is also the largest city in the surrounding associated combined statistical area of approximately 8.4 million residents.The city is named after Lord Baltimore in the Irish House of Lords, the founding proprietor of the Maryland Colony. Baltimore himself took his title from a place in Bornacoola parish, County Leitrim and County Longford, Ireland. Baltimore is an anglicized form of the Irish Baile an Tí Mhóir, meaning 'Town of the Big House', not to be confused with Baltimore, County Cork, the Irish name of which is Dún na Séad. History The Maryland colonial General Assembly created the Port of Baltimore at Locust Point in 1706 for the tobacco trade. The Town of Baltimore was founded on July 30, 1729, and is named after Lord Baltimore (Cecilius Calvert), who was the first Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland. Cecilius Calvert was a son of George Calvert, who became the First Lord Baltimore of County Cork, Ireland in 1625. Baltimore grew swiftly in the 18th century as a granary for sugar-producing colonies in the Caribbean. The profit from sugar encouraged the cultivation of cane and the importation of food.Baltimore played a key part in events leading to and including the American Revolution. City leaders such as Jonathan Plowman Jr. moved the city to join the resistance to British taxes and merchants signed agreements to not trade with Britain.[citation needed] Congress met in the Henry Fite House from December 1776 to February 1777, effectively making the city the capital of the United States during this period. After the war, the Town of Baltimore, nearby Jonestown, and an area known as Fells Point were incorporated as the City of Baltimore in 1797. The city remained a part of Baltimore County until 1851 when it was made an independent city.The city was the site of the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. After burning Washington, D.C., the British attacked Baltimore on the night of September 13, 1814. United States forces from Fort McHenry successfully defended the city's harbor from the British. Francis Scott Key, a Maryland lawyer, was aboard a British ship where he had been negotiating for the release of an American prisoner, Dr. William Beanes. Key witnessed the bombardment from this ship and later wrote 'The Star-Spangled Banner', a poem recounting the attack. Key's poem was set to a 1780 tune by British composer John Stafford Smith, and the Star-Spangled Banner became the official National Anthem of the United States in 1931.Following the Battle of Baltimore, the city's population grew rapidly. The construction of the Federally-funded National Road (presently U.S. Route 40) and the private Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) made Baltimore a major shipping and manufacturing center by linking the city with major markets in the Midwest. A distinctive local culture started to take shape, and a unique skyline peppered with churches and monuments developed. Baltimore acquired its moniker, 'The Monumental City' after an 1827 visit to Baltimore by President John Quincy Adams. At an evening function Adams gave the following toast: 'Baltimore: the Monumental City- May the days of her safety be as prosperous and happy, as the days of her dangers have been trying and triumphant.' Baltimore suffered one of the worst riots of the antebellum south in 1835, when bad investments led to Baltimore Anti-bank riot.Maryland did not secede from the Union during the American Civil War; however, when Union soldiers marched through the city at the start of the war, Confederate sympathizers attacked the troops, which led to the Baltimore riot of 1861. Four soldiers and 12 civilians were killed during the riot, which caused Union troops to occupy Baltimore. Maryland came under direct federal administration—in part, to prevent the state from seceding—until the end of the war in April 1865.Following an economic depression known as the Panic of 1873, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad company attempted to lower its workers wages, leading to the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. On July 20, 1877, Maryland Governor John Lee Carroll called up the 5th and 6th Regiments of the National Guard to end the strikes, which had disrupted train service at Cumberland in western Maryland. Citizens sympathetic to the railroad workers attacked the national guard troops as they marched from their armories in Baltimore to Camden Station. Soldiers from the 6th Regiment fired on the crowd, killing 10 and wounding 25. Rioters then damaged B&O trains and burned portions of the rail station. Order was restored in the city on July 21–22 when federal troops arrived to protect railroad property and end the strike.On February 7, 1904, the Great Baltimore Fire destroyed over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours and forced most of the city to rebuild. Two years later, on September 10, 1906, the Baltimore American newspaper reported that the city had risen from the ashes and 'one of the great disasters of modern time had been converted into a blessing.'[citation needed] The city grew in area by annexing new suburbs from the surrounding counties, the last being in 1918. A state constitutional amendment approved in 1948, required a special vote of the citizens in any proposed annexation area, effectively preventing any future expansion of the city's boundaries.The relative size of the city's black population grew from 23.8% in 1950 to 46.4% in 1970. The Baltimore riot of 1968 occurred following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968. Coinciding with riots in other cities, public order was not restored until April 12, 1968. The Baltimore riot cost the city of Baltimore an estimated $10 million (US$ 63 million in 2010) . Maryland National Guard troops and 1,900 federal troops were ordered into the city. Lasting effects of the riot can be seen on the streets of North Avenue, Howard Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue where long stretches of the streets remain barren.[dead link]During the 1970s, Baltimore's downtown area known as the Inner Harbor, had been neglected and was only occupied by a collection of abandoned warehouses. Efforts to redevelop the downtown area started with the construction of the Baltimore Convention Center, which opened 1979. Harborplace, an urban retail and restaurant complex opened on the waterfront in 1980, followed by the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland's largest tourist destination, and the Baltimore Museum of Industry in 1981. In 1992, the Baltimore Orioles baseball team moved from Memorial Stadium to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, located downtown near the harbor. Six years later the Baltimore Ravens football team moved into M&T Bank Stadium next to Camden Yards.On January 17, 2007, Sheila Dixon became the first female Mayor of Baltimore. On December 1, 2009 she was convicted of a misdemeanor fraud charge and subsequently resigned.The city has a number of properties on the National Register of Historic Places. Geography Baltimore is in north-central Maryland on the Patapsco River close to where it empties into the Chesapeake Bay. The city is also located on the fall line between the Piedmont Plateau and the Atlantic Coastal Plain, which divides Baltimore into 'lower city' and 'upper city'. The city's elevation ranges from sea level at the harbor to 480 feet (150 m) in the northwest corner near Pimlico.According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 92.1 square miles (239 km2), of which 80.8 square miles (209 km2) is land and 11.3 square miles (29 km2) is water. The total area is 12.24 percent water. Climate Baltimore lies within the humid subtropical climate zone (Cfa), according to the Köppen classification.July is typically the hottest month of the year, with an average temperature of 81.7 °F (27.6 °C). Summer is also a season of high (generally, not consistently) humidity in the Baltimore area. The record high for Baltimore is 107 °F (42 °C), set in 1936. January is the coldest month, with an average temperature of 36.8 °F (2.7 °C). However, subtropical air masses can bring periods of springlike weather, and Arctic fronts sometimes push nighttime low temperatures into the teens (< −7 °C) and more rarely, single digits (< −12 °C). The record low temperature for Baltimore is −7 °F (−22 °C), set in 1934. Due to an urban heat island effect in the city proper and a moderating effect of the Chesapeake Bay, the outlying and inland parts of the Baltimore metro area are usually cooler than the city proper and the coastal towns.As is typical in most East Coast cities, precipitation is generous and very evenly spread throughout the year. Every month typically brings 3–4 inches of precipitation, averaging around 43 inches (1,100 mm) annually. Spring, summer and fall bring frequent showers and thunderstorms, with an average of 105 sunny days a year. Winter often brings lighter rain showers of longer duration, and generally less sunshine and more clouds. Snowfall occurs occasionally in the winter, with an average annual snowfall of 18.8 inches (48 cm), In the northern and western suburbs, annual temperatures are cooler, and winter snowfall is more significant, and some areas average more than 20 inches (51 cm) of snow. Freezing rain and sleet occurs a few times each winter in Baltimore, as warm air overrides cold air at the low-mid levels of the atmosphere. When the wind blows from the east, the cold air gets dammed against the mountains to the west and the result is freezing rain or sleet.The average date of first freeze in Baltimore is November 13, and the average last freeze is April 2.NOTE: The temperature data presented below was recorded at Inner Harbor; all other data recorded at BWI Airport. Architecture Baltimore exhibits examples from each period of architecture over more than two centuries, and work from many famous architects such as Benjamin Latrobe, George A. Frederick, John Russell Pope, Mies Van Der Rohe and I. M. Pei.The city has architecturally important buildings in a variety of styles. The Baltimore Basilica (1806–1821) is a neoclassical design by Benjamin Latrobe, and also the oldest Catholic Cathedral in the United States. In 1813 Robert Cary Long, Sr. built for Rembrandt Peale the first substantial structure in the United States designed expressly as a museum. Restored, it is now the Municipal Museum of Baltimore, or popularly the “Peale Museum”. The McKim Free School founded and endowed by John McKim, although the building was erected by his son Isaac in 1822 after a design by William Howard and William Small. It reflects the popular interest in Greece when the nation was securing its independence, as well as a scholarly interest in recently published drawings of Athenian antiquities.The Phoenix Shot Tower (1828), at 234.25 feet (71.40 m) tall, was the tallest building in the United States until the time of the Civil war. It was constructed without the use of exterior scaffolding. The Sun Iron Building designed by R.C. Hatfield in 1851, was city’s first iron-front building and it was a model for a whole generation of downtown buildings. Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church, built in 1870 in memory of financier George Brown, has stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany and has been called 'one of the most significant buildings in this city, a treasure of art and architecture' by Baltimore Magazine. The 1845 Greek Revival style Lloyd Street Synagogue is one of the Oldest synagogues in the United States. The Johns Hopkins Hospital, designed by Lt. Col. John S. Billings in 1876 was a considerable achievement for its day in functional arrangement and fire proofing.I.M.Pei's World Trade Center (1977) is the tallest equilateral pentagonal building in the world at 405 feet (123.4 m) tall.Future contributions to Baltimore's skyline include plans for a 717 foot (218.5 m) tall structure known as '10 Inner Harbor'. The building was recently approved by Baltimore's design panel, but as of January 10, 2010, ARC Wheeler had yet to break ground on the project. It will include luxury condominiums, a hotel, restaurants, and shopping centers. The Naing Corporation has approved a tower of 50–60 floors for the lot at 300 Pratt street, with the design currently being finalized. The Inner Harbor East area will see the addition of two new towers which have started construction: a 24-floor tower that will be the new world headquarters of Legg Mason (now complete), and a 21 floor Four Seasons Hotel complex.The streets of Baltimore are organized in a grid pattern. The streets are lined with tens of thousands of brick and Formstone faced rowhouses. Many consider the rowhouse the architectural form most closely associated to the city. Some rowhouses are dated as far back as the 1790s.Oriole Park at Camden Yards is considered by many to be the most beautiful baseball park in Major League Baseball, and has inspired many other cities to build their own versions of this Retro-Style Ballpark.Camden Yards along with the National Aquarium have helped revive the Inner Harbor from what once was an industrial district full of dilapidated warehouses, into a bustling commercial district full of bars, restaurants and retail establishments. Neighborhoods Baltimore is divided officially into nine geographical regions: Northern, Northwestern, Northeastern, Western, Central, Eastern, Southern, Southwestern, and Southeastern, with each patrolled by a respective Baltimore Police Department district. However, it is common for locals to divide the city simply by East or West Baltimore, using Charles Street as a dividing line, and/or into North and South using Baltimore Street as a dividing line.The Central region of the city includes the Downtown area which is the location of Baltimore's main commercial area. Home to Harborplace, The Camden Yards Sports Complex (Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium), the Convention Center, and the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the area also includes many nightclubs, bars and restaurants, shopping centers and various other attractions. It is also the home to many of Baltimore's key business such as Legg Mason and Constellation Energy. In addition, the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus is housed in this area, with the long-associated University of Maryland Medical System adjacent to the school. The downtown core has mainly served as a commercial district with limited residential opportunities. However, since 2002 the population in the downtown has doubled to 12,000 residents with a projection of 7,400 additional housing units coming available by 2012. The Central region also includes the areas north of the downtown core stretching up to the edge of Druid Hill Park. Included in the more northern part of the Central region are the great neighborhoods of Mount Vernon, Charles North, Reservoir Hill, Bolton Hill, Madison Park, Druid Heights, as well as several other neighborhoods. These neighborhoods include many residential options and are home to many of the city's cultural opportunities. Maryland Institute College of Art, the Peabody Institute of music, the Lyric Opera House, The Walters Art Museum, The Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, as well as several galleries are all located in this region. Crime in the Inner Harbor and Mount Vernon neighborhoods of the Central District became of greater concern in 2009, as an increasing number of random assaults on tourists were reported.The Northern region of the city lies directly north of the Central region and is bounded on the East by The Alameda and on the West by Pimlico Road. It is a suburban residential area, home to many of the city's upper class white residents in neighborhoods including Roland Park, Homeland, Guilford, and Cedarcroft. The Northern region is home to many of Baltimore's notable universities such as Loyola University Maryland, The Johns Hopkins University and College of Notre Dame of Maryland.The Southern region of the city, a mixed industrial and residential area, consists of the area of the city below the Inner Harbor east of the B&O railroad tracks. It is a mixed socio-economic region consisting of working class ethnically mixed neighborhoods such as Locust Point; the recently gentrified Federal Hill area, home to many working professionals, pubs and restaurants; and low-income residential areas such as Cherry Hill.The Eastern part of the city consists of the Northeastern, Eastern, and Southeastern regions of the city. Northeastern Baltimore is primarily a residential neighborhood home to Morgan State University bounded by the city line on its Northern and Eastern boundaries, Sinclair Lane, Erdman Avenue, and Pulaski Highway on its southern boundaries and The Alameda on its western boundaries. It has undergone demographic shifts over many years and remains a diverse but predominantly African American region of the city.The Eastern region is the heart of what is considered 'East Baltimore' and is home to Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Located below Erdman Avenue and Sinclair Lane above Orleans Street, it is almost an exclusively African American area home to low-income residential neighborhoods.The Southeastern region of the city is located below Orleans Street bordering the Inner Harbor on its western boundary, the city line on its eastern boundaries and the Baltimore harbor on its southern boundaries is a mixed industrial and residential area. Home to many young professionals and working class people, it is an ethnically rich section of Baltimore home to many Polish Americans, Greek Americans, African Americans,Central Americans, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans,Italian Americans, and recently, a growing number of Dominicans. A Growing population of Dominicans and Central Americans is present in the Medford-Broening and O'Donnell Heights Neighborhoods.Upper Fells Point is the center of the city's steadily growing Latino population.The Western part of the city consists of the Northwestern, Western, and Southwestern regions of Baltimore. The Northwestern region of the city bounded by the county line on its northern and western boundaries, Gwynns Falls Parkway on the south and Pimlico Road on the East is a predominantly residential area home to Pimlico Race Course, Sinai Hospital and several of Baltimore's Synagogues. Once the center of Baltimore's Jewish community, it has undergone white flight since the 1960s and has become an almost exclusively African American area. It is home to many suburban residential areas primarily located above Northern Parkway and several lower-income areas below Northern parkway.The Western region of the city located west of downtown is the heart of 'West Baltimore' bounded by Gwynns Falls Parkway, Fremont Avenue, and Baltimore Street. Home to Coppin State University and Pennsylvania Avenue, it has been the center of Baltimore's African American culture for years and home to many of the city's historical African American neighborhoods and landmarks. Once home to many middle to upper class African Americans, over the years, the more affluent African American residents have since left migrating to other sections of the city in addition to areas such as Randallstown and Owings Mills in Baltimore County and Columbia in Howard County. The area now constitutes a deprived socio-economic group of African American residents and like 'East Baltimore', it is known for its high crime rates. Television series, such as The Wire, that concern themselves with Baltimore's crime problems have been based on events that took place in West Baltimore.The Southwestern region of the city is bounded by Baltimore County to the west, Baltimore Street to the north, and downtown and the B&O railroad to the east. It is a mixed industrial and residential area, Adjacent communities The City of Baltimore is bordered by the following communities, all unincorporated census-designated places.Arbutus Brooklyn Park Catonsville Dundalk Glen Burnie Lansdowne-Baltimore Highlands Lochearn Overlea Parkville Pikesville Rosedale Towson Woodlawn Culture Historically a working-class port town, Baltimore has sometimes been dubbed a 'city of neighborhoods,' with over 300 identified districts traditionally occupied by distinct ethnic groups. Most notable today are three downtown areas along the port: the Inner Harbor, frequented by tourists due to its hotels, shops, and museums; Fells Point, once a favorite entertainment spot for sailors but now refurbished and gentrified (and featured in the movie Sleepless in Seattle); and Little Italy, located between the other two, where Baltimore's Italian-American community is based – and where current U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi grew up. Further inland, Mt. Vernon is the traditional center of cultural and artistic life of the city; it is home to a distinctive Washington Monument, set atop a hill in a 19th century urban square, that predates the more well-known monument in Washington, D.C. by several decades.The traditional local accent has long been noted and celebrated as 'Baltimorese' or 'Bawlmorese.' One thing outsiders quickly notice is that the locals refer to their city as 'Bawlamer,' dropping with the 't' for the most part. The dialect is similar to that of many Marylanders and Pennsylvanians; it may reflect the region's roots in Cornwall and the English West Country, as many of the original settlers of the Chesapeake Bay area came from this area in colonial times (Traditionally, many Marylanders call their state 'Merlin'--and likewise, many Pennsylvanians call their state 'Pennsavania,' dropping the 'l'). However, Baltimore's local accent also reflects the rich mix of ethnic groups from Ireland, Germany, and southern and eastern Europe who immigrated to the city during the industrial era. More recently, references like 'B-More' have become common. Baltimore has typically been pronounced 'Baldimore' by its residents, changing only the hard 'T' sound to a softer, 'D' sound. 'Bawlamer' pronunciations are used by a subgroup of individuals, most of them now living outside of Baltimore, in surrounding areas like Dundalk and Essex. Newer residents of Baltimore have found ways to profit from the quaintness of the 'Bawlamerese' business, and it has become a widespread misunderstanding.[citation needed] Baltimore native John Waters parodies the city extensively in his films, including the 1972 cult classic Pink Flamingos. His film Hairspray and its Broadway musical remake are also set in Baltimore.Each year the Artscape (festival) takes place in the city in the Bolton Hill neighborhood, due to its proximity to Maryland Institute College of Art. It is known as the 'largest free arts festival in America'.See List of films shot in Baltimore Performing arts The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an internationally-renowned orchestra, founded in 1916 as a publicly-funded municipal organization. The current Music Director is Marin Alsop, a protégé of Leonard Bernstein. Center Stage is the premier theater company in the city and a regionally well-respected group. The Baltimore Opera was an important regional opera company, though it filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and is not currently performing. The Baltimore Consort has been a leading early music ensemble for over twenty-five years. The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, home of the restored Thomas W. Lamb-designed Hippodrome Theatre, has afforded Baltimore the opportunity to become a major regional player in the area of touring Broadway and other performing arts presentations.Baltimore also boasts a wide array of professional (non-touring) and community theater groups. Aside from Center Stage, resident troupes in the city include Everyman Theatre, Single Carrot Theatre, and Baltimore Theatre Festival. Community theaters in the city include Fells Point Community Theatre and the Arena Players Inc., which is the nation's oldest continuously operating African American community theater.Baltimore is home to the Pride of Baltimore Chorus, a 3-time International silver medalist women's chorus, affiliated with Sweet Adelines International. Economy Once a major industrial town, with an economic base focused on steel processing, shipping, auto manufacturing, and transportation, the city suffered a deindustrialization which cost residents tens of thousands of low-skill, high-wage jobs. While it retains some industry, Baltimore now has a modern service economy providing a growing financial, business, and health service base for the southern Mid-Atlantic region.Greater Baltimore is home to five Fortune 1000 companies: Constellation Energy, Grace Chemicals (in Columbia), Legg Mason, T. Rowe Price, and McCormick & Company (in Hunt Valley). Other companies that call Greater Baltimore home include AAI Corporation (in Hunt Valley), Adams Express Company, Brown Advisory, Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown (the oldest continuously-running investment bank in the United States),[citation needed] FTI Consulting, Petroleum & Resources Corporation, Vertis, Prometric, Sylvan Learning, Laureate Education, Under Armour, DAP, 180s, DeBaufre Bakeries, Wm. T. Burnett & Co, Old Mutual Financial Network, Firaxis Games (in Sparks), Sinclair Broadcast Group (in Hunt Valley), Fila USA (in Sparks) and JoS. A. Bank Clothiers (in Hampstead).The city is also home to the Johns Hopkins Hospital, which will serve as the center of a new biotechnology park, one of two such projects currently under construction in the city. Demographics After New York City, Baltimore was the second city in the United States to reach a population of 100,000 (followed by New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Boston). In the 1830, 1840, and 1850 censuses of the United States of America, Baltimore was the second-largest city in population, surpassed by Philadelphia in 1860. It was among the top 10 cities in population in the United States in every census up to the 1980 census, and after World War II had a population of nearly a million. The city and metropolitan area currently rank in the top 20 in terms of population. In the 1990s, the US Census reported that Baltimore ranked as one of the largest population losers alongside Detroit and Washington D.C., losing over 84,000 residents between 1990 and 2000.According to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, the racial composition of Baltimore was as follows:Black or African American: 63.4% White: 31.9% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 30.6%) Native American: 0.2% Asian: 1.9% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: <0.1% Some other race: 0.9% Two or more races: 1.6% Hispanic or Latino(of any race): 2.6% Source:The population density was 8,058.4 people per square mile (3,111.5/km²). There were 300,477 housing units at an average density of 3,718.6/sq mi (1,435.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 64.85% African American, 31.28% white, 0.32% native American, 1.53% Asian, 0.03% Pacific islander, 0.67% from other races, and 1.47% from two or more races. 1.70% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. This census, however, does not accurately represent the city's Latino population, which, over the past few years, has been steadily increasing. This growth is mainly seen in the southeastern neighborhoods around Upper Fells Point, Patterson Park, and Highlandtown, and in the city's Northwestern neighborhoods such as Fallstaff, as well as various neighborhoods of Northeastern Baltimore. 6.2% of the population were of German ancestry according to Census 2000.There were 257,996 households, out of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.7% were married couples living together, 25.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.0% were non-families. 34.9% of all households are made up of individuals, and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42, and the average family size was 3.16.In the city, the population age spreads were 24.8% for persons under the age of 18, 10.9% for ages 18 to 24, 29.9% for ages 25 to 44, 21.2% for ages 45 to 64, and 13.2% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 87.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.9 males.The median income for a household in the city was $30,078, and the median income for a family was $35,438. Despite the housing collapse, and along with the national trends, Baltimore residents still face slowly increasing rent (up 3% in the last year). Males had a median income of $31,767 versus $26,832 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,978. About 18.8% of families and 22.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.6% of those under age 18 and 18.0% of those age 65 or over. Crime 2009 saw 238 homicides in the city, slightly higher than the 2008 total of 234, which was the fourth-highest homicide rate per capita of all U.S. cities of 250,000 or more population. Though this is significantly lower than the record-high 379 homicides in 1993, the homicide rate in Baltimore is nearly seven times the national rate, six times the rate of New York City, and three times the rate of Los Angeles.Although other categories of crime in Baltimore have been declining, overall crime rates in Baltimore are still high compared to the national average. The rate of forcible rapes has fallen below the national average in recent years; however, Baltimore still has much higher-than-average rates of aggravated assault, burglary, robbery, and theft.City officials have come under scrutiny from Maryland legislators regarding the veracity of crime statistics reported by the Baltimore Police Department. In 2003, the FBI identified irregularities in the number of rapes reported, which was confirmed by then-Mayor Martin O'Malley. The number of homicides in 2005 appeared to exhibit discrepancies as well. The former police commissioner stated upon interview that the administration suppressed corrections to its crime reports; however, many of the charges made by the police commission now appear to be politically motivated. Under the administration of Mayor Sheila Dixon, who resigned after her conviction for embezzlement in 2009 (and is to be tried for perjury in 2010), and a new police commissioner, crime rates have been reduced, including a 17% reduction in the number of homicides from 2007 (a total of 282) to 2008. Government Baltimore is an independent city, and not part of any county. For most governmental purposes under Maryland law, Baltimore City is treated as a county-level entity. The United States Census Bureau uses counties as the basic unit for presentation of statistical information in the United States, a