MILWAUKEE — Killings dropped by a third here last year, making Wisconsin’s largest city among the nation’s most successful in tackling its 2008 murder rate.
Although New York and Chicago saw an uptick in slayings last year, other cities including Detroit, Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Los Angeles had fewer violent deaths in ’08 than ’07.
And though a study released Monday by Northeastern University showed black teenagers killing each other in rising numbers, Milwaukee stands out. The number of black men between the ages of 15 and 29 killed dropped nearly two-thirds, from 54 in 2007 to 19 last year.
Total homicides dropped 32 percent, from 105 in 2007 to 71 last year — the lowest number since 1985. The city also saw fewer gun deaths.
“I think today Milwaukee is allowed to feel good about itself because this reduction is the work of many people. . . . This year they saw a return on their investment,” Police Chief Edward Flynn said at a news conference Friday.
Homicides in Los Angeles have plunged 27 percent during the past five years, which police officials attributed to a reduction of gang-related crime.
“We have shown time and again that if you invest in law enforcement and hold police accountable . . . you will absolutely have a very definitive effect on crime,” said Los Angeles Assistant Police Chief Earl Paysinger.
New Orleans saw 179 murders, a 15 percent drop from the 210 in 2007. While the city’s shifting population has been hard to measure, even the largest estimates would still mean the Crescent City is among the nation’s most homicidal places per-capita.
The nation’s preliminary crime statistics won’t be released by the FBI until spring, but a review of unofficial figures released by 25 of the 52 police departments in cities with a population of more than 350,000 showed 15 of the 25 had fewer slayings last year than in 2007.
In the 25 cities, there were a combined 4,291 slayings in 2008, an overall 2.7 percent drop from the 4,409 recorded in 2007. Data were not reviewed for another 27 cities classified by the Census Bureau as having a 2007 population of more than 350,000, however.
Keeping count
Murder rate fell in ’08: Baltimore; Boston; Cleveland; Detroit; Houston; Jacksonville, Fla.; Los Angeles; Milwaukee; Minneapolis; New Orleans; Oakland, Calif.; Philadelphia; San Francisco; San Jose, Calif.; and Tulsa, Okla.
Murder rate rose: Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Mo.; New York; Tucson; Seattle; St. Louis; and Washington, D.C.
