Today on Midday, Tom's Newsmaker guest is Baltimore City Police Commissioner Michael Harrison.

So far this year, 303 people have been victims of homicide in Baltimore City, and 639 other people have shot. By now, you’ve undoubtedly heard the reports of what everyone refers to as the “grim milestone” we passed earlier this week when five-year old Nivea Anderson became the city’s 300th homicide victim. The last time our city made it through a year without more than 300 people losing their lives to violence was two years before that poor little girl was born.

Governor Larry Hogan announced the state would fund a $100,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people who killed Evelyn Player, a 69-year-old woman who was stabbed to death at Southern Baptist Church in East Baltimore on Tuesday. The Governor remains critical of city leadership and their efforts to reduce crime.

Those leaders — the Mayor, the State’s Attorney and the Commissioner — have pledged that they are all on the same page when it comes to confronting this deadly dilemma. Three weeks ago, Mayor Brandon Scott announced he was allocating $50 million dollars of American Rescue Plan funds to the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement to support Violence Intervention programs and other initiatives.

We welcome listener calls, emails and Tweets.

Commissioner Michael Harrison joins us on Zoom.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.