DETROIT – Detroit officials say the city saw a dramatic drop in violent crime in 2025, reaching levels not seen in decades and falling below 200 homicides for the first time since the mid-1960s.
Police Chief Todd Bettison, Mayor Mary Sheffield, and a coalition of local, state, and federal partners announced the new crime numbers on Wednesday (Jan. 7), calling them historic but stressing that the work is far from over.
According to Detroit Police Department data:
- Homicides fell 18.7% in 2025
- 165 people were killed in violent crimes last year
- That’s down from 203 homicides in 2024
City officials say the last time Detroit recorded fewer than 200 homicides was 1965, when there were 188 killings.
“It’s going down, down, down,” Bettison said, emphasizing that trend, while also warning that any level of violent crime remains unacceptable.
“One homicide, one assault, one carjacking, as we always say, is one too many,” Bettison said.
Police also reported that nonfatal shootings declined, and that several other major crime categories — sexual assault, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, and motor vehicle theft — were down across the board.
In addition, officers, working with partner law enforcement agencies, removed 6,235 guns from Detroit’s streets over the course of the year.
The positive statistics arrive even as some neighborhoods are still reeling from recent acts of violence.
Outside Chita’s Nefertiti Bar and Lounge on Detroit’s west side, balloons from a recent vigil are still tied in place — a reminder of a stabbing and fatal shooting that happened outside the business this week, ushering in the new year with tragedy.
“We’ve got to stick together. Stop being so quick to react to violence. That’s not the answer,” said neighbor Byron Gipson, whose family operates a nearby business. He says he doesn’t want to see senseless violence become routine in 2026.
Chief Bettison echoed that sentiment, stressing that even with numbers moving in the right direction, every life lost has a deep impact on families and communities.
Detroit’s newly elected mayor, Mary Sheffield, said the numbers are encouraging, but credited a broader, long-term approach to public safety that goes beyond enforcement alone.
“I have always stated that I believe in a holistic and comprehensive approach to public safety that is rooted in both prevention and intervention,” Sheffield said.
As part of that strategy, Sheffield announced the launch of Detroit’s first Office of Neighborhood and Community Safety within her administration.
“This office will focus on strengthening and expanding proven strategies, addressing mental health, engaging our youth through after-school programs, mentoring, and job training,” she said. “And also enhancing neighborhood-based solutions that save lives in a data and resident-informed way.”
City leaders say that a combination of targeted policing, community partnerships, youth engagement, and mental health support has helped drive the numbers down — and will be central to keeping them down.
Sheffield called the 2025 crime statistics a sign of “momentum” that she and her team are determined to sustain.
For residents like Gipson, that momentum must translate into safer streets, fewer grieving families, and fewer vigils marked by balloons and candles.
As Detroit closes out a year of significant crime reductions, both city officials and community members agree: the progress is real, but the goal remains the same — a city where no act of violent crime is considered inevitable.