DETROIT – Officials in Detroit are claiming homicides have fallen to their lowest levels in decades. Other violent crimes are down too thanks to a first-of-its-kind partnership.
The city is touting significant reductions in homicides, nonfatal shootings and carjackings. The drop is due to an intense focus on attacking a backlog of gun cases in the courts.
Wayne County Executive Warren Evans was joined by people from every level of law enforcement in the area to highlight the dramatic reduction in local violent crime.
“Nobody wants to hear about the numbers of arrests, what people want to hear about is the overall crime reduction,” Evans said.
During COVID shutdowns, courts were also shut down. People charged with violent gun crimes were out on bond, potentially resulting in more violent crimes.
The Wayne County courts worked overtime to clear the more than 4,000 backlogged cases. Police and prosecutors worked together on a mountain of cases. State funding helped pay for clearing the cases.
The result has been so successful that the City of Detroit has seen huge reductions in violent crime for the first 11 months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
Homicides in Detroit are down 18%, nonfatal shootings are down 13% and carjackings are down 36%.
“We’ve seen now numbers we’ve never seen,” said Mayor Mike Duggan. “18% reduction homicide. 60 more people are going to be living this year.”
An estimated 100 fewer people will be shot this year.
Wayne County Sheriff Raphael Washington said his office and the Detroit Police Department have arrested 3,646 felons.
“I think that’s a number you want to hear about because this stuff is result-driven,” Washington said.
In 2018, Detroit had 261 homicides, the fewest number since 1966. Over the first 11 months of this year, Detroit has had 228 homicides. City officials believe they will finish the year well below the 2018 record.
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office is working to place community prosecutors in three Detroit police precincts in 2024 in hopes of extending the progress the partnership has made.