DETROIT – In 2024 Detroit recorded its fewest number of homicides since 1965 with 203 victims.
Detroit was a much bigger city back then. The city had a million more residents. But the latest homicide numbers show real progress for a city still working to shed its reputation of being violent.
“I was the prosecutor in 2002 and I remember the Detroit Police celebrating we got under 400 homicides for the first time. They said we never thought we’d see that number. And a few years back, I was the mayor, and we got under 300 homicides. And now you’ve seen just two years later, where we are bordering on 200 homicides,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said.
Nonfatal shootings, sexual assaults, aggravated assaults, robberies and carjackings also dropped in 2024.
Interim Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison likes the direction the city is headed in.
“I get a chance today and stand here as chief and brag about the numbers, but it’s not about me. It’s about the hardworking men and women of the Detroit Police Department,” he said.
So how did they do it?
City officials cited their partnerships with agencies at the county, state and federal levels.
They also highlighted their work with the community.
Dujuan Zoe Kennedy heads Force Detroit, which is one of six groups the city is working with to make neighborhoods safer.
Kennedy said he isn’t surprised the community groups are having an impact.
“Because I believe if organizations like our organizations were able to intervene in my life, I wouldn’t have suffered the consequences of the criminal lifestyle and causing harm to my community,” Kennedy said.
Detroit still has a long way to go compared to other cities.
Duggan shared that Boston, which has a similar population as Detroit, had 24 homicides last year.
“We are using their ceasefire strategy. We’re using their Real Time Crime Center strategy. We’re using their federal partnership strategies,” Duggan said.