BALTIMORE, MD (WBFF) — Residents in Baltimore’s Southern District delivered a signed petition to City Hall Thursday, calling for leaders to address quality of life issues involving dirt bikes, illegal parking, loitering, and open-air drug markets.
Organizers said more than 800 residents living in Federal Hill, South Baltimore, Sharp Leadenhall, Locust Point, Otterbein, Pigtown, Brooklyn and Curtis Bay, signed the petition, which was delivered to various city and state officials including Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott.
“We are here today because our Southern District neighbors are facing serious challenges threatening our safety, stability, and quality of life,” said Sandra Seward, with the Southern District Community Coalition.
“We need accountability in our city,” Seward added. “We started having meetings, after there was no follow-up from our elected officials that we spoke to. We created a letter, and one by one, we got signatures.”
The residents said some of the quality of life issues can lead to other types of crime in the community, which is why they are asking officials to enforce existing laws related to dirt bikes, establish DUI checkpoints in entertainment districts during certain time periods and take a stronger stance on parking enforcement.
According to Baltimore City Code, no one may drive or ride any dirt bike or other unregistered motorcycle on any public or private property in the city of Baltimore. Additionally, no person may possess any dirt bike or unregistered motorcycle within the city and no service station or any other person may sell motor fuel for one of those vehicles.
Any person that violates that ordinance is subject to a fine of up to $1,000 for each offense or imprisonment for not more than 90 days. Anyone with information on suspects or storage locations for dirt bikes can provide a tip to the BPD Dirt Bike Tip line.
“We see the impact, the positive impact when they do the policing, we just want it to be sustainable over a long period of time,” said Stephen Topping, who is also with the Southern District Community Coalition.
Baltimore has seen a significant reduction in violent crime and homicides. In 2025, there were 133 homicides, the fewest in nearly 50 years. The number of non-fatal shootings also declined from 423 in 2024 to 311 in 2025.
“This progress continues, and you can see over the four-year period, a 60% decline in homicides, a 51% decline of non-fatal shootings. This is not by accident. This is the result of having a coordinated, comprehensive public safety strategy,” Stefanie Mavronis, the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement said during a hearing on Tuesday.
A spokesperson from the Mayor’s Office said this about the community petition:
Mayor Scott and his administration are committed to making Baltimore safe for everyone in every neighborhood. We are actively engaged with residents and local stakeholders in Federal Hill. BPD, DOT, and other agencies are regularly meeting with local bar owners to discuss issues in bar areas, and MONSE, BPD, and community partner B-360 attended the April 21 Federal Hill Community Association meeting to discuss issues including dirt bikes and parties. Furthermore, as part of their youth engagement work, MONSE staff and community partners are out in Federal Hill Park Friday and Saturday nights engaging youth and connecting them to services. Our public safety teams and agencies will continue the work of building a safer Baltimore.
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