Staff Reports
Boston, the cradle of liberty, and amazing chowder, is showing the nation how to tackle crime. The city has reported only two homicides as of March 31, setting the trend for plummeting homicide rates across the country. It’s like Boston is saying, “Hey, crime, take a hike!”
Experts have noticed that from the beginning of this year through March, homicide rates have fallen by about 20% across 133 cities compared to the same period in 2023. One crime-data analyst, Jeff Asher, even said, “There’s just a ton of places that you can point to that are showing widespread, very positive trends.” Wow, that’s a lot of positivity for a topic usually surrounded by doom and gloom.
Blue cities and states might be doing some tough-on-crime stuff, but it seems like the trends this year are just happening without much help from public policy choices. The murder rates are getting back to pre-pandemic levels. In 2020, there was a 30% spike in homicides, the biggest single-year jump recorded by the FBI. COVID-19 really messed things up, and it’s not just because it made people hoard toilet paper.
In Philly, homicide rates have dropped by 34% compared to the same time in 2023. It’s like the city got together and said, “Let’s put a stop to this madness.” The city had 514 homicides in 2022, but last year, that number fell to 410. Philly’s not sitting back and hoping for the best, though. In February, the police launched the “Mobile Surge Team” to send extra officers to the rough spots on Friday and Saturday nights, basically saying, “Oh no, you don’t, crime!”
New Orleans used to have the highest murder rate in the country, but now it’s seen a 39% drop through April 10 compared to the same period in 2023. The city’s new governor, Jeff Landry, is even pushing for a new state police force to keep a lid on the violence. It’s like he’s saying, “Let’s clean up our streets, y’all!”
These cities are taking action and showing that with a little bit of effort, we can kick crime to the curb. Keep it up, cities!
