Detroit Crime Drops to Levels Not Seen in Decades

Detroit used to be the punchline people dragged out every time crime came up. For most of us growing up in Michigan, that’s just been the narrative for as long as we can remember. But now, it feels like things are finally changing.

Detroit’s Crime Numbers Are Way Down

For the first time in decades (and yeah, literally decades), murders in Detroit dropped below 200. According to MLive, the city wrapped up 2025 with 165 homicides. That’s not spin or creative math. That’s a real number, and it’s way lower than where Detroit was even a few years ago.

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Non-fatal shootings dropped hard, too. More than 25 percent lower than last year and down over 60 percent compared to 2020. That’s a massive change in a short amount of time.

And carjackings? Nearly cut in half. Let that sink in for a second.

Why Detroit Crime Is Dropping

Obviously, this didn’t happen overnight, and it definitely didn’t happen by accident and out of the blue. City leaders point to actually putting resources where the problems are. More officers. Faster responses before things get out of hand. Better staffing. Smarter security at big events. And yeah, holding parents accountable when kids are out past curfew, causing problems.

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Is Detroit perfect now? Of course not. Nobody’s saying that. But things are moving in the right direction for the first time in a very long time.

Compare this to where Detroit was a few years ago, and yeah, this is real progress.

I don’t get into Detroit all that often, but when I do, I feel way safer than I did a couple of decades ago. No question about it.