With significant upticks in homicides and some other crimes reported in many areas in 2020 and 2021, it is not surprising that there is considerable concern crime policies and crime politics. Still, anyone who follows crime trends knows they can often have an unpredictable and unexplained quality, says Ohio State University law Prof. Doug Berman in his Sentencing Law and Policy Blog. . Against that backdrop, I have been watching closely the homicides being reported via police crime reports in various cities over the first half of 2022. Citing the AH Datalytics webpage, Berman says that nearly two-thirds of cities are reporting that homicides are down in 2022 relative to 2021. Murders in large cities are down more than two percent.
Among the reports: Chicago homicides were down 11 percent as of June 19; Los Angeles homicides were up one percent as of June 25; New York City homicides fell 13% as of June 26 and Philadelphia homicides were down 10 percent as of June 28. There were no new data for several big cities, including Houston and Phoenix, and the trend may not be representative of the nation. "It is certainly possible that six months from now the 2022 data could tell a very different story," Berman says.