According to a new report released by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice, homicides are declining in a cross-section of American cities. The report analyzed data from 30 U.S. cities and found that homicides on average dropped 9.4% during the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year. However, the numbers still remain higher than they were in 2019, with an increase of about 24%. The report highlighted that while there is a continuing decline in homicides, most cities have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Richard Rosenfeld, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and co-author of the report, stated, "We're seeing a continuing decline in homicides, but most cities are not back to levels that prevailed prior to the pandemic." The report is based on crime data posted online by police departments in 37 cities of varying sizes across the country. It includes several of the nation's largest cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, but researchers did not have immediate access to data for other cities like Houston and San Diego.

While the analysis does not capture the entire country, it adds to the growing evidence that U.S. crime rates overall are trending downward after a historic jump during the pandemic. Jeff Asher, a crime analyst and consultant at AH Datalytics, who was not involved in producing the report, stated that he has observed a widespread decline in crime rates in about 100 cities based on his crime database of murder rates. He added, "It's been a widespread decline. It's not everywhere, but it's been widespread enough that it's not simple randomness."

The increase in crime rates in 2020, which saw a 29% jump according to FBI data, was the largest one-year increase since the agency began record-keeping. However, it still remained below the historic highs of the 1990s. Experts struggled to provide a simple explanation for the rise in crime, citing factors such as the pressures of the pandemic on both citizens and the police, gun violence, social unrest following high-profile incidents of police violence, and economic turmoil.

FBI crime data, which is typically the most comprehensive in the country, indicated that violent crime rates began to level out in 2021. However, the agency's most recent data was incomplete as nearly 40% of agencies, including major cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, did not submit their data for 2021 due to an overhaul in the FBI reporting system.

While violent crime rates are down in 37 cities across the U.S. during the first half of this year, they still remain above pre-pandemic levels. This suggests that although progress is being made in reducing crime, there is still work to be done to fully recover from the impacts of the pandemic and address the underlying factors contributing to increased violence.