Homicides and other violent crimes dropped in major cities last year, but still remain well above pre-pandemic levels, according to a report released Thursday.
The report by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice reviewed crime trends in 35 cities and found that homicides, gun assaults and domestic violence dipped slightly in 2022 compared with the previous year.
Overall, the homicide rate in 2022 was 4% lower than it was in 2021, representing 242 fewer murders in the 27 cities that publicly report monthly homicide data. However, the study estimates the national homicide rate remained 34% higher than it was in 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of those 27 cities, 14 reported a drop or no change in homicides last year, ranging from a 40% decrease in homicides in Richmond, Virginia, to no change in St. Louis. The remaining 13 cities experienced increases, ranging from less than 1% in Houston to 48% in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“While it is heartening to see homicide numbers drop, too many communities continue to lose too many residents to bloodshed,” said Richard Rosenfeld, a University of Missouri-St. Louis professor who co-authored the study.
Data in the report was somewhat hamstrung by the lack of universal reporting of crime statistics. Some cities don’t track data on certain crime statistics, and each city applies its own metrics to tracking the data.
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For example, the report concluded that gun assaults and reports of domestic violence fell slightly, but only a dozen cities reported data for those categories.
The Council on Criminal Justice, a think tank focused on criminal justice issues, said it selected the cities reviewed based on the availability of data.
The FBI also compiles national crime statistics, but won’t release its year-end data for 2022 until later this year. It also moved to a new reporting system in 2021, making it more difficult to track crime trends because it phased out certain offenses and counts only the most serious offense in an incident.
A report last year from the Major Cities Chiefs Association reached similar results. The police chiefs’ survey found that homicides dropped by 2% through the first six months of 2022, but violent crime increased by 4.4%
U.S. crime data has become politicized since bail reform and other criminal justice initiatives have been implemented to reduce incarceration. Prisoners are being granted parole faster, fewer minors are being prosecuted and some states enacted bail reform, eliminating cash bail for misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies.
Republicans say that means more criminals are out walking the streets and using their freedom to drive up the crime rate. They have blamed Democrats’ liberal crime policies for the surge in violent crime.
Democrats dismiss those claims, saying harsher penalties and a punitive justice system increase crime. They argue the policies keep people out of jail so they can hold jobs and contribute to society.
The report found that aggravated assaults dropped by 3.5% in 2022 compared with 2021, but remain 7.5% higher than in 2019.
Gun assaults declined by 7% last year vs. 2021 but soared by 39% vs. 2019. However, the Council on Criminal Justice cautioned that these statistics are based on data from just 11 cities.
Domestic violence dropped 5% in 2022 than in 2021 but rose 5% compared with 2019.
The report also found that motor vehicle thefts soared in 2022 and the increase was widespread across all the cities the council looked at. Motor vehicle thefts surged 21% in 2022 compared with the previous year and skyrocketed 59% from 2019. In eight cities, vehicle thefts more than doubled, and in Norfolk, Virginia, they tripled, the report said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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