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.
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.