Homicides are Falling in Major American Cities: Down 12% Overall in 9 of the 10 Most Populous Cities, according to police data

From [HERE] Homicides in some of America’s largest cities are falling after soaring during the first two years of the pandemic.

So far this year, killings are down 12% overall in nine of the 10 most populous cities compared with the same time frame last year, according to local government data.

Homicides are down in six of those cities, including 27% in Los Angeles, 22% in Houston, and 16% in Philadelphia. In Texas, the cities of Dallas, San Antonio and Austin reported slight upticks. San Diego didn’t provide data.

The 2023 data available from the cities had different end dates, ranging from April to this week.

Local officials and criminologists say conditions that drove the violence up in 2020 and 2021, such as rise in domestic disputes and a pause in gang-violence prevention programs during the pandemic, as well as a pullback in police enforcement after racial-justice protests over the murder of George Floyd, are receding.

Last year, the number of killings dropped 5% in 70 of the largest U.S. cities from 2021, according to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, which represents police chiefs from large cities. 

“Obviously, things got so bad, we’re slowly chipping away at it,” said Danielle Outlaw, Philadelphia’s police commissioner.

Philadelphia reported a record 562 homicides in 2021. Outlaw said the closing of courts and schools during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic and the wave of protests calling to defund police departments affected policing.

This year, drug-related killings are down 56% and domestic homicides are down 22% in Philadelphia. Outlaw credited a new team of detectives that investigates all shootings, as well as the return of community anti-violence groups and regular schooling. She said police morale is up with more public support.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation isn’t expected to release national crime figures for 2022 until later this year. Murders rose 4% in 2021 after spiking bynearly 30% in 2020, according to the agency’s most recent data.