Detroit’s homicide rate has fallen to levels not seen before the mid-1960s, according to preliminary year-end statistics released by the Michigan border city.

The city is part of a national trend of declining overall violent crime rates across the US

Detroit ended 2024 with about 203 homicides — 49 fewer than the previous year and the city’s fewest since 188 in 1965, Mayor Mike Duggan said.

Non-fatal shootings, assaults, carjackings and other violent crimes also continue to drop across the city.

“We have numbers that are nothing short of remarkable,” Duggan said.

“I was the (Wayne County) prosecutor in 2002, and I remember Detroit police celebrating the first time we had under 400 homicides and they said, ‘We never thought we’d see that number.’ And a few years ago I was mayor and we had less than 300 murders.”

Overall violent crime in the United States is down an estimated 3 percent in 2023 from the previous year, according to an FBI report released in September. At the national level, the number of homicides and manslaughter fell by almost 12 percent.

Detroit, which has a population of about 633,000, reported 309 homicides in 2022. There were also 308 homicides in 2021. The city had 261 homicides in 2018, the fewest since 1966 when there were 214 homicides.

Non-fatal shootings in Detroit fell from 804 in 2023 to 606 last year.

“The change in this community in just a few years has been very special,” Duggan said of fewer murders and shootings.

“These are not numbers. These are real people, mostly young people in our community.”

Reductions were everywhere. Carjackings fell from 167 in 2023 to 142 last year. Sexual assaults are also down, with 184 fewer robberies reported last year than in 2023. Burglary, theft and motor vehicle theft are also down.

Duggan credited the city’s partnership with other local and state police and federal agencies.

He also credited programs like ShotStoppers, which provides federal funding to groups in Detroit that work to reduce homicides and shootings. Reductions of 83 percent, 73 percent and 61 percent in some of the city’s most violent areas were recorded last month.

ShotStoppers started in 2023 and empowers activists and residents to use their own strategies to prevent violence. These strategies include teaching young people to think critically, improving training opportunities for adults, drug prevention and disease eradication.

Detroit has also been hiring more police officers, putting 340 more on the city’s streets over the past two years.