Violent crimes reported to law enforcement agencies in the first nine months of 2024 continued their steep drop, according to a survey of 69 U.S. cities by the Major Cities Chiefs Association. The MCAA survey comparing January through September 2024 to the same months in 2023 shows a 17.5% plunge in homicide and a 9.5% drop in reported aggravated assaults, with declines of more than 8% in reported rapes and robberies. The MCAA data echo similar findings by AH Datalytics' Real-Time Crime Index, which aggregates data from 500 to 1,000 local police departments, and the Council on Criminal Justice's most recent study of 39 cities. The Real-Time Crime Index's eight-month comparison of 2024 and 2023, as of August, showed murders down 16.6%, aggravated assaults down 2.8%, and rapes and robberies down about 7% each. The CCJ study of the first half of the year showed homicide down 13%.
In the MCAA study through September, some of the cities with the most significant homicide declines were Boston (71%), Philadelphia (41%), San Francisco (40%), New Orleans (38%), Seattle (33%), Washington, D.C. (33%), San Antonio (24.5%), and a number of cities hovering around 20% declines in homicide (Phoenix, Kansas City, Mo., Las Vegas, Memphis, Milwaukee. Eleven of the cities showed increases in homicide, led by Long Beach, CA (up 82%), Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C. (28%), Minneapolis (24%), and Louisville (7%). A number of cities showed significant increases in aggravated assaults while homicides declined, including Chicago, Buffalo, Boston, Baltimore, Fresno, Kansas City, Mo., Mesa, Az., Newark, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Jose, and Tucson.
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