The Murder Rate Dropped In Many U.S. Cities In 2017

Many major U.S. cities experienced a decline in their murder rates last year, a welcome relief after two consecutive years of increases in the U.S. murder rate. A new report by the Brennan Center for Justice found that the overall crime rate in the 30 largest U.S. cities fell 2.1 percent between 2016 and 2017 while the murder rate dropped 3.4 percent. While some cities experienced a rise in the murder rate such as Las Vegas (25.9 percent) and Boston (14.6 percent), several notorious murder-hotspots like Chicago and Detroit saw large decreases.

In 2016, Chicago became known at one of the nation's most violent cities with an average of 12 people shot every day and more murders than Los Angeles and New York City combined. Things have improved with the murder rate falling 12.3 percent, though it remains more than 60 percent above 2014 levels, meaning there is still a lot of work to do. Washington D.C. and Houston were among the other cities with noticeable decreases, recording drops of 17.4 and 16.9 percent respectively.