Baltimore, Maryland has long had a reputation as being one of the most violent cities in the United States. While homicides were down in the first half of 2008, police in the city of 630,000 people are battling to control another type of crime, gun violence. This year gun crimes have resulted in dozens of shooting homicides, assaults and robberies with deadly weapons. Law enforcement officials are troubled by the spike and are using different methods to reverse the trend. VOA's Chris Simkins visited Baltimore to see how police are trying to control the wave of gun violence.