(CNN) Baltimore, a city with one of the highest per capita homicide rates in the country, has not seen a homicide for 11 days and counting -- the longest homicide-free period since March 2014.

The number of homicides in Baltimore, nicknamed "Charm City," began rising in 2015. Baltimore had 51.4 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2016, according to the FBI. In comparison, Chicago had 28.07 homicides per 100,000 residents, and New York City had 3.9 per 100,000 residents.

The city of some 620,000 residents saw 343 homicides in 2017, according to Baltimore police, a new record of homicides per capita in the city and the highest number of homicides since 1993, when 353 people were killed. Because the city's population has shrunk since the previous high, the rate of homicides per person rose.

Balloons hang from a storefront in Baltimore on February 3, 2018, to mark the site where a man was recently murdered.

This year is off to a better start. January 2017 saw 32 homicides, according to the Baltimore PD. There were 26 homicides in January 2018.

The 11-day period of calm began with a ceasefire called by a community group on the first weekend of February. The group, called Baltimore Ceasefire, is leading a grassroots effort to reduce violence on the streets one weekend at a time.

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