Murders plunge 15% in America's biggest cities
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Homicides fell 15.2% across major U.S. police jurisdictions through the first nine months of 2026, extending a retreat from pandemic-era violence that began under President Biden and continues under President Trump.
The big picture: A new Major Cities Chiefs Association report found declines in all four major violent-crime categories among 66 reporting U.S. large law enforcement agencies from January through September, compared with the same period last year.
- Homicides dropped 15.2%.
- Robberies fell 9.1%.
- Rapes declined 3.5%.
- Aggravated assaults decreased 3.4%.
State of play: Combined, the four categories fell 4.9% — or 13,822 fewer reported offenses.
- Fifty-one of the 66 agencies reported overall declines.
- Homicides dropped in 49 jurisdictions, increased in 15 and remained unchanged in two.
Zoom in: Some of the nation's largest cities recorded striking homicide declines.
- Memphis: Homicides plunged 36.5%, from 156 to 99.
- San Antonio was down 36.5%, Indianapolis down 33.6%, Philadelphia down 21.2%, Aurora, Colorado down 65.2% and Newark, New Jersey down 59.1%.
The other side: New York City was a major outlier and reported more violent crime in all four categories, including 24.5% more homicides and 14.2% more robberies. Its combined violent crime total was up 5.1%.
- San Diego reported 45.2% more homicides and Las Vegas recorded a 23.4% jump.
- Washington, D.C., saw homicides fall 29.9%, but robberies surged 41.1%, pushing its combined violent-crime total up 9.7%.
The caveat: The figures remain preliminary. Houston reported no data because of a records-system transition, and Tulsa recently transitioned to a new crime reporting system, the report notes.
