July 23 (UPI) — Crime rates are on the decline in U.S. cities with the national homicide rate falling by 18%, inching closer to a historic low, the Council on Criminal Justice said Thursday.
The Council on Criminal Justice released its mid-year report examining patterns for 13 types of crime in 36 U.S. cities. It found that nine of the 13 crimes were on the decline through mid 2026.
“This report is not evidence of the success or failure of any policy or practice,” co-authors Ernesto Lopez and Bobby Boxerman wrote. “It simply documents recent crime trends from a sample of large U.S. cities.”
Lopez, a senior research specialist for the Council on Criminal Justice, and Boxerman, a research scientist for the Regional Justice Information Service based in Missouri, added in their report that there is not a single explanation for the current crime trends.
Several possibilities were highlighted as having potential links to declining crime rates, including changes in criminal justice strategies, technological advances and shifts in society and culture.
The changes in crime rates were compared to rates from the first half of 2019 for a look at longer trends. In that comparison, homicide declined by 31%, recording declines in 26 of 30 cities.
Lincoln, Neb., had the deepest reduction in homicides over 2019, falling by 100%. Lincoln is one of four cities with a decline of more than 50%.
The national homicide rate increased by 30% from 2019 to 2020.
Of the nine types of crime that declined in the first half of the year, carjacking had the greatest decrease, falling by 47%.
Drug offenses have continued to rise, marking the biggest upward trend at 12%.
The Council on Criminal Justice projected that the end of 2025 homicide rate would likely be the lowest since 1900. It says its mid-year data “suggest” the homicide rate in 2026 will fall even further, “reaching a new historic low.”
“Murder and other crime rates are falling across the map, in cities with different political leadership, housing and economic conditions, policing and prosecution strategies, violence reduction models, and levels of federal enforcement activity,” Adam Gelb, president and CEO of the Council on Criminal Justice, said in a statement. “Local policies and programs surely matter, but the striking consistency of the decline suggests that macro-level forces are exerting enormous influence as well.”