Crime in Detroit

Last updated

Detroit
Crime rates* (2019)
Violent crimes
Homicide 41.4
Rape 143.4
Robbery 353.3
Aggravated assault 1,425.8
Total violent crime 1,965.3
Property crimes
Burglary 1,027.1
Larceny-theft 2,235.5
Motor vehicle theft 1,037.0
Total property crime 4,299.7
Notes

*Number of reported crimes per 100,000 population.

As of 2018, Detroit had the fourth highest murder rate among major cities in the United States after St. Louis and Baltimore and the 42nd highest murder rate in the world. [1] [2] The rate of robberies in Detroit declined by 67% between 1985 and 2014 while the rate of aggravated assaults increased. [3] As a whole, the city's crime rate has decreased considerably from its 1980s peak. [4]

Contents

In 2017, there were 267 murders in Detroit - down from 303 in 2016. The violent crime rate of 2,057 per 100,000 was the second highest in the nation after St. Louis. It was roughly ten times the average rate of the suburban counties of metro Detroit which had violent crime rates below the national average of 394 per 100,000. [5] [6] In recent years some neighborhoods in the downtown area of Detroit have seen a significant decline in crime, while the crime rate remains very high in most of the city and has a significant impact on daily life. [7]

History

In June 1971, the largest mass murder in Detroit's history occurred, known as the Hazelwood massacre. [8] Eight African-Americans were shot and killed in a house in the Virginia Park Historic District. [8]

The number of Detroit homicides peaked in 1974 at 714 and again in 1991 with 615. At the end of 2010, the homicide count fell to 308 for the year with an estimated population of just over 700,000, the lowest count and rate since 1967. [9] [10]

In 2006, the Detroit Police Department's Crime Analysis Unit reported that crimes dropped by 24 percent since the introduction of casino gaming to Detroit, Michigan. [11]

In a 2007 analysis, Detroit officials noted that about 65 to 70 percent of homicides in the city were confined to a narcotics catalyst. [12] In 2013, Detroit's number of criminal homicides was 333, a reduction of 14% compared to 2012. However, taken in context by population, Detroit remains a city with one of the highest homicide rates per capita in the United States. [13]

In April 2008, Detroit unveiled a $300-million stimulus plan to create jobs and revitalize neighborhoods, financed by city bonds and paid for by earmarking about 15% of the wagering tax. [14] Detroit's plans for revitalization include 7-Mile/Livernois, Brightmoor, East English Village, Grand River/Greenfield, North-End, and Osborn. [14] [15] Private organizations have pledged substantial funding to neighborhood revitalization efforts. [16] [17] One of the issues that is not as extreme as murders and crime, but shows system-wide decline of basic city services is a large number of stray dogs roaming the streets. Fifty-nine Detroit postal workers were attacked by stray dogs in 2010, according to a Detroit postmaster. [18]

Detroit had faced many cases of arson each year on Devil's Night, the evening before Halloween. In the 1980s a number of residents noted that they had turned to arson of abandoned homes to keep drug dealers from using the empty buildings. The majority of citizen arsonists were never prosecuted or charged. The Angel's Night campaign, launched in the late 1990s, draws many volunteers to patrol the streets during Halloween week. The effort reduced arson: there were 810 fires set in 1984, this was reduced to 142 in 1996. [19] In recent years, fires on this three-night period have dropped even further. In 2009, the Detroit Fire Department reported 119 fires over this period, of which 91 were classified as suspected arsons. [20]

"Renaissance" has been Detroit's phrase for development since the 1970s. During the administration of Dennis Archer, who succeeded Coleman Young in 1994, Detroit saw middle-class residents moving into the city, and growth in residential and commercial development, despite overall population decline. Detroit has improved in the early 21st century, making use of increased funding from the state to demolish condemned buildings. [21]

In 2012, the murder count had rebounded to 411, with 386 considered criminal homicides. [22]

According to arrest records, as of 2015 many of the customers of illegal drugs and sex in Detroit originate from the suburbs. [23] George Hunter of The Detroit News wrote that "Detroit's underground economy mirrors the legitimate one: Both rely heavily on suburban investment." [24] The largest number of suburbanites committing illegal acts go to areas of Detroit bordering suburbs. [24]

As of 2015 there is an element in Detroit culture against "snitching" or reporting criminal activity. [25]

On August 29, 2022, a 19-year-old male was suspected of opening fire on random pedestrians in Detroit, killing three people and wounding a fourth; a dog was also killed. He was arrested later in the day, and formally charged with murder and attempted murder.

Law and government

The former Detroit Police Headquarters at 1300 Beaubien. DetroitPoliceHQ1300Beaubein.jpg
The former Detroit Police Headquarters at 1300 Beaubien.

In 2000, the city requested an investigation by the United States Justice Department into the Detroit Police Department which was concluded in 2003, following allegations regarding its use of force and civil rights violations. [26] From 2005 to 2006, the city proceeded with a large scale reorganization of the Detroit Police Department, reducing the number of precincts from twelve to six districts. The stated purpose of this reorganization was to improve services. [27]

The reorganization and the city's search for a new police headquarters raised concerns within the Detroit Police Department which included overcrowding issues and increased response times. [28] Michigan and Detroit economic squeezes sustained re-organizational impetus. Then Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings (now retired) reassigned sworn officers from desks to squad cars, consolidating and reducing the number of precincts.

In 2007, Detroit was named the most dangerous city in the US by a Morgan Quitno report published by CQ Press. The report was denounced by the American Society of Criminology as an "irresponsible misuse" of crime data. [29] The U.S Conference of Mayors and the FBI have cautioned against using the Morgan Quitno – CQ Press report ranking cities as 'safest' or 'most dangerous'. [29] [30]

Homicides per year

Works

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in Canada</span> Overview of crime in Canada

Crime in Canada is generally considered low overall. Under the Canadian constitution, the power to establish criminal law and rules of investigation is vested in the federal Parliament. The provinces share responsibility for law enforcement, and while the power to prosecute criminal offences is assigned to the federal government, responsibility for prosecutions is delegated to the provinces for most types of criminal offences. Laws and sentencing guidelines are uniform throughout the country, but provinces vary in their level of enforcement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in Japan</span> Overview of crime in Japan

Crime in Japan has been recorded since at least the 1800s, and has varied over time.

Crime in St. Louis includes an overview of crime both in the city of St. Louis and in the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Crime in the city increased from the 1960s through the early 1990s as measured by the index crime rate. Despite decreasing crime, rates of violent crime and property crime in both the city and the metropolitan area remain higher than the national metropolitan area average. In addition, the city of St. Louis consistently has been ranked among the most dangerous cities in the United States. As of April 2017, St. Louis has the highest murder rate in America. At the end of 2017, St. Louis metropolitan had 205 murders, 159 of which were within the city limits. In 2018, the new Chief of Police, John Hayden said two-thirds (67%) of all the murders and one-half of all the assaults are concentrated in a triangular area in the north part of the city.

Crime has been recorded in the United States since its founding and has fluctuated significantly over time, with a sharp rise after 1900 and reaching a broad bulging peak between the 1970s and early 1990s. After 1992, crime rates have generally trended downwards each year, with the exceptions of a slight increase in property crimes in 2001 and increases in violent crimes in 2005-2006, 2014-2016 and 2020-2021. While official federal crime data beginning in 2021 has a wide margin of error due to the incomplete adoption of the National Incident-Based Reporting System by government agencies, federal data for 2020-2021 and limited data from select U.S. cities collected by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice showed significantly elevated rates of homicide and motor vehicle theft in 2020-2022. Although overall crime rates have fallen far below the peak of crime seen in the United States during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the homicide rate in the U.S. has remained high, relative to other "high income"/developed nations, with eight major U.S. cities ranked among the 50 cities with the highest homicide rate in the world in 2022. The aggregate cost of crime in the United States is significant, with an estimated value of $4.9 trillion reported in 2021. Data from the first half of 2023, from government and private sector sources show that the murder rate has dropped, as much as 12% in as many as 90 cities across the United States. The drop in homicide rates is not uniform across the country however, with some cities such as Memphis, TN, showing an uptick in murder rates.

The following table is based on Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports statistics.

Crime in Chicago has been tracked by the Chicago Police Department's Bureau of Records since the beginning of the 20th century. The city's overall crime rate, especially the violent crime rate, is higher than the US average. Gangs in Chicago have a role in the city's crime rate. The number of homicides in Chicago hit a 25-year high in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in Brazil</span> National crime information on Brazil

Crime in Brazil involves an elevated incidence of violent and non-violent crimes. Brazil's homicide rate was 27.4 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Brazil has the highest number of intentional homicides in the world, with 57,358 in 2018. In recent years, the homicide rate in Brazil has begun to decline. The homicide rate was 20.64 per 100,000 in 2020 with 43,879 killings, similar to 2019, but down from 30.67 per 100,000 in 2017.

Kym Loren Worthy is an American lawyer and politician serving as the prosecutor of Wayne County, Michigan since 2004. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first African-American woman to serve as a county prosecutor in Michigan. She is most noted for prosecuting then-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick at the beginning of March 2008.

The Chaldean mafia is a criminal organization composed of Chaldean Catholic Assyrians that have operated narcotics distribution networks from Phoenix and San Diego to Detroit. Involved in violent crimes such as armed robbery, arson, assault, homicide, and kidnapping.

Crime in Atlanta, Georgia is above the national median and has been a major problem for the city since the middle 20th century.

According to the Louisiana Uniform Crime reporting program, there were 177,710 crimes reported in the U.S. state of Louisiana in 2018. 2018 had the least amount of non-violent criminal offenses since at least 2008. Violent crime decreased from 2017 to 2018, but 2012 still remains the lowest with its record of 22,868. Rape went up 12.7% from 2017 while murder/non-negligent manslaughter declined 7.8%. Additionally, robbery dropped 15% and aggravated assault dropped 1.5%. Handguns remain the leading murder weapon with a rate of 44.7% with firearm following close behind at 35.7%. Together, these two contribute for 80.4% of the murders. Similarly, robberies were committed mostly with firearms in 2018. Firearms were leading with 52% and strongarm listed with a percentage of 35%.

In 2015 there were 166,510 crimes reported in the U.S. state of Maryland, including 493 murders.

In 2019, 43,686 crimes were reported in the U.S. state of Michigan. Crime statistics vary widely by location. For example, Dearborn has a murder rate of only 2.1 per 100,000 while sharing borders with Detroit and Inkster, some of the highest rates in the state.

In 2010, 356 people were murdered in the U.S. state of Tennessee. In 2009 and 2010, Tennessee had the highest rate of violent gun crime of any US state, although less than that of Washington D.C. Tennessee ranked highest in the nation for the rate of aggravated assaults with a firearm, and ranked fifth-worst in robberies.

Crime in the U.S. state of Virginia has generally decreased from 2008 to 2014.

Crime in Oakland, California began to rise during the late 1960s after the King assassination riots, and by the end of the 1970s Oakland's per capita murder rate had risen to twice that of San Francisco or New York City. In 1983, the National Journal referred to Oakland as the "1983 crime capital" of the San Francisco Bay Area. Crime continued to escalate during the 1980s and 1990s, and during the first decade of the 21st century Oakland has consistently been listed as one of the most dangerous large cities in the United States.

The American city of Baltimore, Maryland, is notorious for its crime rate, which ranks well above the national average. Violent crime spiked in 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray on April 19, 2015, which touched off riots and an increase in murders. The city recorded 348 homicides in 2019, a number second only to the number recorded in 1993 when the population was nearly 125,000 higher.

Houston's murder rate in 2005 ranked 46th of U.S. cities with a population over 250,000 in 2005. In 2010, the city's murder rate was ranked sixth among U.S. cities with a population of over 750,000 according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Houston had over 400 homicides in 2020 and 473 by the end of December in 2021 a predicted increase of 30% year on year.

References

  1. ↑ "List of cities by murder rate". seguridadjusticiaypaz.org.mx. Archived from the original on October 13, 2019. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  2. ↑ "The Most Dangerous Cities In The World". WorldAtlas. Archived from the original on December 12, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Crime reported by Detroit Police Dept, Michigan". UCR data tool. Retrieved December 29, 2018.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ "Violent crime improving in Detroit". The Morning Sun. October 6, 2016. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Detroit ranks as 2nd most violent big city". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on May 7, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  6. ↑ "United States". Crime Data Explorer. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Coping with crime: Struggle persists in neighborhoods". Coping with crime: Struggle persists in neighborhoods. Archived from the original on March 17, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  8. 1 2 John Griffith (June 16, 1971). "Revenge See in 7 Killings: Were Seven Shot To Silence Them?". Detroit Free Press. pp. 3A, 16A. Archived from the original on July 24, 2022. Retrieved July 24, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ Hunter, George (January 4, 2011). "Murders fell 15% in Detroit last year". The Detroit News. Retrieved July 11, 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  10. ↑ Suzette Hackney; Gina Damron & Kristi Tanner-White (January 4, 2011). "Detroit homicides fall to lowest level since 1967". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  11. ↑ Wilks, Jeff; Donna Pendergast & Peter Leggat (2006). Tourism in Turbulent Times: Toward Safe Experiences for Visitors. Elsevier. ISBN   0080446663., p. 103.
  12. ↑ Shelton, Steve Malik (January 30, 2008). "Top cop urges vigilance against crime". Michigan Chronicle. Archived from the original on August 2, 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2008.
  13. ↑ Kate Abbey-Lambertz (January 3, 2014). "Detroit Crime Dropped In 2013, But City Had Same Number Of Murders As New York". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  14. 1 2 "Next Detroit". City of Detroit. Archived from the original on May 2, 2008.
  15. ↑ "Detroit can't afford to lose this family". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Community Development". DEGC. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
  17. ↑ "Detroit Neighborhood Fund" (PDF). March 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 6, 2009.
  18. ↑ Binelli, Mark (March 20, 2012). "City of Strays: Detroit's Epidemic of 50,000 Abandoned Dogs". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 18, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Urban Community Intervention to Prevent Halloween Arson -- Detroit, Michigan, 1985-1996 (April 11, 1997)". CDC Wonder. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Detroit fires drop over 3-day Halloween period". Daily Tribune. November 3, 2009. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012.
  21. ↑ Corley, Cheryl (January 3, 2005). "Detroit Struggles to Overcome Urban Blight". NPR Morning Edition. Archived from the original on February 18, 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
  22. ↑ Sands, David (January 3, 2013). "Bing, Detroit Police Officials Reveal 2012 Homicide Statistics". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  23. ↑ Gross, Allie. "Who's buying sex and drugs in Detroit? Suburbanites " (Archived 2015-10-14 at the Wayback Machine ). Metro Times . Tuesday October 6, 2015. Retrieved on October 17, 2015.
  24. 1 2 Hunter, George. "Sex, drug stings nab more from suburbs than city" (Archived 2015-10-14 at the Wayback Machine ). The Detroit News . October 5, 2015. Retrieved on October 7, 2015.
  25. ↑ Dickson, James David. "Effort combats Detroit's anti-snitch culture" (Archived 2015-10-13 at the Wayback Machine ). The Detroit News . September 23, 2015. Retrieved on October 20, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Quarterly Status Report to the Independent Federal Monitor". Detroit Police Department. Archived from the original on April 4, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2007.
  27. ↑ "Detroit to trim 150 cops, precincts". Detroit News. August 30, 2005. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Detroit to trim 150 cops, precincts". Detroit News. August 30, 2005. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  29. 1 2 "Criminologists Condemn City crime rankings". PRNewswire. November 16, 2008. Archived from the original on January 18, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2008.
  30. ↑ "The U.S Conference of Mayors challenges city crime rankings". PRNewswire. November 18, 2008. Archived from the original on January 18, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2008.
  31. ↑ Tribune, Stephen Franklin, Chicago. "MURDERS TORMENT DETROIT". chicagotribune.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  32. ↑ "FBI Stats Show Detroit Remains Nation's Murder Capital". AP NEWS. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  33. 1 2 3 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  34. 1 2 3 4 5 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 9, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  35. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  36. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  37. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  38. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  39. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  40. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  41. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  42. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  43. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  44. ↑ "Table 6 - Crime in the United States 2004". www2.fbi.gov. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  45. ↑ "Table 6 - Crime in the United States 2005". www2.fbi.gov. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  46. ↑ "Table 6 - Crime in the United States 2006". www2.fbi.gov. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  47. ↑ "Table 6 - Crime in the United States 2007". www2.fbi.gov. Archived from the original on March 2, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  48. ↑ "Table 6 - Crime in the United States 2008". www2.fbi.gov. Archived from the original on March 2, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  49. ↑ "Table 6 - Crime in the United States 2009". www2.fbi.gov. Archived from the original on July 14, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  50. ↑ "Table 6". FBI. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  51. ↑ "Table 6". FBI. Archived from the original on February 18, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  52. ↑ "Table 6". FBI. Archived from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  53. ↑ "Table 6". FBI. Archived from the original on October 2, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  54. ↑ "Table 6". FBI. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  55. ↑ "Table 6". FBI. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  56. ↑ "Michigan". FBI. Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  57. ↑ "Table 6". FBI. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  58. ↑ "Table 6". FBI. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  59. ↑ Hunter, George. "Detroit ends 2019 with 272 homicides, preliminary statistics show". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on January 2, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  60. ↑ https://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/27032/2020_detroit_crime_tallies_show_19_homicide_rise_53_surge_in_nonfatal_shootings#:~:text=Detroit%20recorded%20327%20criminal%20homicides,%25%20from%202019.%20 Archived January 24, 2021, at the Wayback Machine ...
  61. ↑ "Report: Detroit homicides, nonfatal shootings drop in 2021".
  62. ↑ "Detroit saw reduction in some violent crimes in 2022, year-end data shows". January 10, 2023.
  63. ↑ "Detroit crime stats: Police to highlight 2023 numbers, including fewest homicides since 1966". January 3, 2024.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.