Violent Crime Drops in First Half of 2024: Report
New statistics show the rate of violent crime falling in major U.S. cities so far this year, giving hope that the spike in crime since the COVID-19 pandemic is almost over.
According to a report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association, violent crime fell six percent nationwide in the first six months of 2024, as compared to 2023.
Violent crime includes a wide variety of offenses such as homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
Nationwide, homicides dropped 17 percent.
The report includes figures from 69 of the largest U.S. cities, excluding New York City, which did not submit its numbers to the organization.
“This data offers yet another indicator of a substantial reduction in violent crime in major cities across the country,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Violent Crime Down Across the Board
Digging into the numbers, violent crime declined in 54 of the 69 cities measured. The largest drop was in Columbus, Ohio, which saw a 41 percent drop in violent crime. That was well ahead of second place Omaha, Nebraska, which posted a 30 percent drop.
Miami and Washington, DC saw declines of 29 percent, while New Orleans fell 26 percent.
In terms of homicides, Boston saw a dramatic 78 percent decrease in homicides while Philadelphia reported 42 percent drop.
Despite these positive trends, only 18 of 69 cities saw crime drop in all four categories: homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
Major Cities Chiefs Executive Director Laura Cooper told WTOP News that there is room for improvement.
“While we are trending in the right direction, there is still work to be done to get us to pre-pandemic levels,” said Cooper. “Funding is essential as are partnerships with a myriad of stakeholders and the community. Accountability is also key and leveraging relationships with state and federal partners are often the recipe for handling repeat violent offenders