BALTIMORE (WBFF) — It’s no surprise that politicians make promises on the campaign trail that eventually don’t become a reality, but in Baltimore, those promises can often mean lives are lost.
 

Then-candidate Brandon Scott touted his promise to save lives in the city – a promise that garnered votes but failed to become a reality.
 

“I will aim to reduce homicides by 15% each year in my term getting us below 300 homicides in my first year as Mayor,” he said in January 2020 when campaigning for office.
 

But to date, 303 people have been killed in Baltimore, cementing 2021 as another deadly year in Charm City as the trend of more than 300 homicides continues for the seventh year in a row.
 

The skyline of Baltimore is often overshadowed by the bloodshed that connects communities from corner to corner of the city and the violence knows no bounds; a 5-year-old girl was the 300th homicide in 2021 and Thursday evening, a 13-year-old girl was gunned down outside an elementary school and recreational center.
 

“Baltimore gets in your soul, in your bones and your heart is really breaking right now,” Christopher Summers said, president of the Maryland Public Policy Institute. “Cities that have been in these situations have turned it around and there is hope for Baltimore.”
 

In July 2021, Mayor Scott unveiled his long-awaited crime plan that included a 5-year implementation timeline. Scott's comprehensive plan, which was drafted with community input, lays out an approach to violence that focuses more on investment in community programs and health strategies than the strong-armed enforcement of past administrations.
 

“Baltimore doesn’t have five years,” Summers shot back. “Whether it’s two years or five years, there needs to be dramatic policy changes now in order to change course in the city.”
 

Summers said the city can turn things around, but it would take addressing some of the root causes of the crime, like economics and poverty. To help lift up people in poverty in the city, Summers said the tax structure should be adjusted to help people keep more money.
 

‘Cities do not lure the middle class, they create it,” Summers said. “And that’s not happening in Baltimore City right now, but it can.”
 

Another struggle for the city – beyond the climbing homicide numbers – is the lack of officers in the department, Summers said. The police are down more than 200 officers, which Summers said, should be a priority.
 

“That is the first immediate need,” Summers said.
 

While the bloodshed continues to spill into streets and evidence markers dot sidewalks up and down blocks, Mayor Scott went on defense earlier in the week about the string of tragic events, including a 69-year-old woman who was stabbed to death inside her church.
 

“We have to have some sort of intelligence to understand that an event like this, is not something police can solely understand,” Scott said, noting BPD officers can’t sit in church bathrooms to prevent crimes. “It is our responsibility to not be so insensitive, so stupid, to focus on anything other than bringing that person to justice and making sure that family and that community and that church gets the trauma healing that they need.”
 

FOX45 News pushed Mayor Scott on what can police do, if he said they can’t prevent all crimes.
 

“I think you know what police can do. There's a section of Baltimore City of a certain group of people that commit violence and we know that’s who the police are focused on,” Scott said. “Anybody that doesn’t, has an outdated way of thinking of violence, has never lived in the community, has never had a gun pointed in their face, has never ducked bullets, has never lived with the folks that actually live in the community in Baltimore.”
 

For the third day in a row, FOX45 News sent questions to the Baltimore City Council demanding answers about the violence. On Nov. 19, FOX45 News sent the following questions:

• Do you have faith in Mayor Scott’s ability to curb the violence in Baltimore City?
• Why should the people of Baltimore continue to trust elected leaders, especially when it comes to crime-fighting strategies?
• Are you concerned about the level of violence for the rest of this year?

Councilman Mark Conway responded to the questions – as he did the previous days as well – acknowledging the crisis point for the city in terms of crime but did not criticize Mayor Scott’s plan.
 

“People are afraid and disturbed at the events of the past week, and so am I. To see innocent children and church volunteers murdered while going about their day is beyond reprehensible,” Conway said via statement. “We have effective policing strategies that are working well in certain parts of the city."
 

"What I’d like to see is greater urgency toward applying those strategies citywide, as well as implementation of the mayor’s comprehensive violence reduction plan," Conway said. "We have a plan — now we need action, and we need to see results.”

No other leaders responded the questions.