Homicides decreasing in US Cities, but remain higher than pre-pandemic levels, new report shows

A recent study by the Council on Criminal Justice revealed that homicides in 30 American cities declined by an average of 9.4% during the first half of 2023 compared to last year.

The numbers remained about 24% higher than they were in 2019, and motor vehicle thefts were up sharply in the analyzed cities.

"We’re seeing a continuing decline in homicides, but most cities are not back to levels that prevailed prior to the pandemic," said Richard Rosenfeld, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and co-author of the report.

The report is based on crime data posed online by police departments in 37 cities of varying sizes around the country. Several of the nation's largest cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, are represented, but researchers didn't have immediate access to data for others, like Houston and San Diego. Of the cities that did post crime data online, 30 included homicide numbers and 20 of those showed declines.