Homicide in Detroit in 2024 drops to a level not seen since 1965

Homicides in Detroit have dropped to levels not seen since before the mid-1960s, according to preliminary year-end statistics from the Michigan border city.

The city is part of a national trend of generally declining rates of violent crime across the United States

Detroit ended 2024 with about 203 homicides — down 49 from the previous year and the fewest in the city since 188 homicides in 1965, Mayor Mike Duggan said.

Nonfatal shootings, assaults, carjackings and other violent crimes also continue to decline across the city.

“We have numbers that are nothing short of amazing,” Duggan said.

“I was the (Wayne County) prosecutor in 2002 and I remember Detroit police celebrating that we had fewer than 400 homicides for the first time and saying, ‘We never thought we would see that number.’” “A few years ago I was mayor and we had less than 300 homicides.”

Total violent crime in the United States fell by an estimated 3 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to an FBI report released in September. Nationally, homicides and manslaughter fell by about 12 percent.

Detroit, with a population of about 633,000, reported 309 homicides in 2022. There were also 308 homicides in 2021. The city had 261 homicides in 2018, the fewest since 1966 when there were 214 homicides .

Nonfatal shootings in Detroit fell from 804 in 2023 to 606 last year.

“The change in this community in just a few years has been pretty remarkable,” Duggan said of the drop in homicides and shootings.

“These are not numbers. These are real people, mostly young people in our community.”

The declines were across the board. Car theft incidents decreased from 167 in 2023 to 142 last year. Sexual assaults also decreased and 184 fewer burglaries were reported last year than in 2023. Burglaries, thefts and car thefts also decreased.

Duggan credited the city’s partnerships with law enforcement and other federal agencies at the local and state levels.

He also credited programs like ShotStoppers, which provides federal money to groups in Detroit that work to reduce the numbers of homicides and shootings. Declines of 83 percent, 73 percent and 61 percent were reported in some of the city’s most violent areas last month.

The ShotStoppers initiative launched in 2023 and works to empower activists and residents to use their own strategies to prevent violence. These strategies include teaching youth critical thinking, improving training opportunities for adults, drug prevention, and pest removal.

Detroit has also hired more police officers, putting 340 more on city streets over the past two years.