Homicide rates decline in Columbus and across country during first quarter of 2024

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Cities across America are experiencing declines in homicides at the fastest pace in decades, with the number of homicides in Columbus falling more than 50% compared with the first quarter of last year.

Nationwide, homicides dropped nearly 20% from January through mid-April compared with the same period in 2023, according to data from AH Datalytics. The consulting firm compiled homicide counts from 218 U.S. cities where updated homicide data was available.

“We’re seeing pretty much the same trends in all of the places,” said co-founder Jeff Asher said. “Pretty much across the board declines, big cities, small cities, medium-sized cities, there’s no sort of formula for what we’re seeing, it’s really a nationwide decline in murder.”

Columbus saw a 51% drop in homicides as of April 15, police data shows. By this date last year, 47 homicides occurred in Columbus, compared to 23 in 2024.

In Cleveland, homicides fell 39% through April 14. Major cities such as New York City (-23%), Chicago (-11%) and Detroit (-26%) also saw notable decreases. While homicide rates are falling overall, some outlier cities did experience an increase in homicide such as Cincinnati (12%), Los Angeles (9.46%) and Portland, Oregon (13%). 

The national decrease is an acceleration of a small decline that began in 2022 and fell further in 2023, according to Asher. The country saw a jump in homicides in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, which remained steady into 2021. Between 2019 and 2020, the murder rate rose 30% – the largest single-year increase in more than a century. 

Experts theorized a number of potential causes, including economic and societal changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and changes in police-community relationships after George Floyd was killed during a police encounter, according to Pew Research Center.

Mary Reiter, a criminology professor at Columbus State Community College, said the closure of schools, businesses, childcare services and community programs combined with these other factors helped create the “perfect storm” for crime. Reiter said as society returns to normal, it’s not surprising to see the drop in homicide rates. 

“It just sort of seemed like it was a no-brainer [that] the homicide rates and crime rates overall would kind of go back to normal with everything else in society,” Reiter said. “Schools are reopened, they’re getting back to normal. They’re investing a lot of resources into getting kids back into the classroom and getting caught up. Businesses are open, the economy is fairly strong. Unemployment rates are low.”

In Columbus, Reiter said partnerships between the city and local organizations, such as Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children, could also be contributing to homicides dropping in the city. 

“Especially in Columbus, we’re seeing a pretty good collaboration between community leaders and city leaders to really do the work necessary, to do things like rebuild trust and rebuild all those community organizations,” Reiter said.

A spokesperson with the Columbus Division of Police also cited relationships with community partners as a possible reason for the decrease, along with their "targeted enforcement strategies" and the increased presence of police officers.

"While we are certainly encouraged by the drop in homicide numbers, one homicide is simply one too many," the spokesperson said. "While these efforts have shown promising results in reducing homicides, it is essential that we all remain vigilant and continue to work together to build and sustain a safe Columbus.”

Homicide rates are not completely unpredictable, according to Reiter, and the direction Columbus and the rest of the country is headed in so far this year could be an encouraging sign for the future.

“I think that there are pretty clear trends,” Reiter said. “We are looking really good right now, but there’s no way to predict for example, if there’s some kind of huge disruption that might happen again in the future. But as long as we stay on the same path, I think it's pretty safe to predict by the end of the year we’ll see a pretty strong decline in homicide rates.”

Homicide rates are consistently updating – statistics in this article are accurate as of April 18.