DETROIT (Michigan News Source) — For the first time since the 1960s, Detroit finished a year with fewer than 200 homicides.

There were 165 criminal homicides recorded in Detroit in 2025, a 19% drop from 2024 and the lowest total since 1964, Police Chief Todd Bettison said January 7. Seventeen additional deaths were classified as justified.

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Other crime metrics followed suit. Nonfatal shootings fell 26%, carjackings dropped 46%, and both violent and property crime posted single-digit percentage drops, according to Detroit police data.

“What we’re doing in Detroit is working,” Bettison said. 

Mayor Mary Sheffield, speaking at Detroit Public Safety Headquarters, credited a broader approach and announced a new Office of Neighborhood and Community Safety, focused on mental health, youth programs, and job placement.

“It’s not just about law enforcement; there’s a human side,” Sheffield said.

Bettison also pointed to Project Green Light, a police-business partnership that uses bright green lights and live-feed cameras to deter crime, now at more than 1,000 locations.

Detroit’s decline mirrors drops reported in cities such as Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C.