Can Crime Be Considered An Epidemic?

"In the heart of East Baltimore, in an area surrounding Johns Hopkins Hospital about a mile and a half square, 30 people were murdered in 2004." The situation has become so bad that one activist "has gone to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to try and get homicides in Baltimore declared an epidemic in hopes of capitalizing on the additional funds and programs that such a designation would bring to the city." How can residents in this neighborhood come to grips with their surroundings, let alone make a difference?