(WXYZ) — The Detroit Police Department unveiled its 2023 year-end crime stats on Wednesday, highlighting a drop in violent crime while also saying more work needs to be done.
According to DPD, there were 252 homicides in the City of Detroit last year, the fewest since 1966 and down 18.4% compared to 2022.
There were 804 non-fatal shootings in the city, according to DPD, down 15.8% from 2022, and 167 carjackings, down 33.5% from last year, according to DPD.
It follows a trend of declining violent crime and homicides across the U.S., according to year-end stats from around the country.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Detroit Police Chief James White and several other law enforcement leaders spoke.
"This group here is creating what I think will be long-term change for the safety of people in this city," Duggan said during the press conference.
White spoke after Duggan, and said he's been in a lot of meetings about crime stats over the years, but he's never been prouder than the previous year's statistics.
"The theme today will be thank you. To our partners, to our command teams, to the best police department in the country who got us where we are today," White said.
According to the city, there was also a drop in sexual assaults, robberies, burglaries and car thefts. Only larcenies saw an increase, according to the department, which increased 11%.
White thanked the Detroit city council for also giving raises to officers – a $10,000 raise – which DPD said allowed the department to place 200 additional officers on the street, and plans to add 100 more officers in 2024.
During the press conference, the leaders also highlighted partnerships with federal agencies, including the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, the DEA, FBI and ATF. That partnership, titled One Detroit, has targeted summer crime reduction in the 8th and 9th precincts.
According to the statistics, those areas targeted by One Detroit saw a 63% drop in carjackings, 17% drop in homicides, 18% drop in non-fatal shootings and 22 people charged federally. There were also 1,250 guns recovered, 5,512 casings entered into the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN), 1,750 felony arrests and 160 people charged federally.
“One Detroit Partners came together to address crime in a new way. We committed to balancing enforcement work with work in the community to prevent crime from happening and work with men and women returning from prison to ensure they don’t return to crime," Ison said in a statement. "The report on the results of those efforts is promising, but we are just getting started. I commend Chief White and the hard-working men and women of the Detroit Police Department for their work to reduce violence in Detroit this year. Violent crime is down significantly, but we are not satisfied. We will take what we have learned and work even harder to improve what we are doing. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and all the One Detroit Partners are proud to stand with DPD to build on the comprehensive approach necessary to make sustained reductions in violent crime."
