Homicides in Detroit have dropped to levels not seen since the mid-1960s, according to preliminary year-end statistics released by the Michigan border city.
The city is part of a nationwide trend of declining overall violent crime rates across the United States
Detroit ended 2024 with about 203 homicides — 49 fewer than the year before and the city's lowest number since 188 in 1965, Mayor Mike Duggan said.
Shootings, assaults, carjackings and other non-fatal violent crimes continue to decline across the city.
“We have numbers that are just extraordinary,” Duggan said.
“I was the (Wayne County) prosecutor in 2002, and I remember when the Detroit police celebrated that we had fewer than 400 homicides for the first time, and they said, 'We never thought we'd see this number.' And a few years ago I was mayor and we had less than 300 homicides.”
Overall violent crimes in the United States dropped by about 3 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to an FBI report released in September. Nationwide, murders and negligent homicides have dropped by almost 12 percent.
Detroit, with a population of about 633,000, recorded 309 homicides in 2022. There were also 308 homicides in 2021. In 2018, the city recorded 261 homicides, the lowest number since 1966, when there were 214 homicides.
The number of non-fatal shootings in Detroit dropped from 804 in 2023 to 606 last year.
“The change that has taken place in this community in just a few years has been extraordinary,” Duggan said of the fewer homicides and shootings.
“These are not numbers. These are real people, mostly young people in our community.”
Declines were common. Car thefts dropped from 167 in 2023 to 142 last year. Sexual assaults have also decreased, with 184 fewer assaults reported last year compared to 2023. Burglaries, thefts and motor vehicle thefts have also decreased.
Duggan credited the city's partnership with other local and state law enforcement and federal agencies.
He also credited programs like ShotStoppers, which provide federal funding to groups in Detroit working to reduce homicides and shootings. Last month, reductions of 83 percent, 73 percent and 61 percent were reported in some of the city's most violent areas.
ShotStoppers launched in 2023 and empowers activists and residents to use their own violence prevention strategies. These strategies include teaching young people to think critically, improving training opportunities for adults, preventing drug use and eradicating blight.
Detroit is also hiring more police officers, with 340 more of them on the city's streets in the last two years.