The number of violent crimes reported to El Paso police dropped by almost 10% in the first six months of this year compared to the same period a year ago, according to a new national report.
The report by the Major Cities Chiefs Association, released on Aug. 8, showed that reported violent crimes – homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault – declined by 6% in the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. The report covered 69 of the United States’ 70 largest cities – only New York City was excluded, because it uses different means of tracking crime than other cities.
The report showed that each category of violent crime decreased in El Paso over the first half of the year. The number of homicides fell from 17 in the first half of 2023 to 11 in the same period this year, a drop of 35%.
El Paso had the 25th biggest decrease in reported violent crime among the 69 cities in the survey.
Among other regional cities, Austin saw a 28% decrease, San Antonio was down 17%, Dallas was down 13.5%,Albuquerque declined 7.5%, Houston was down 4%, Fort Worth was down 3%, Arlington dropped 2% and Phoenix was essentially flat to last year at the same time.
Tucson saw a 2% increase in violent crime.
El Paso has seen one of the nation’s largest declines in crime since the 1990s, but saw increases in reported crimes in 2022 and 2023, according to FBI data.
The report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association is separate from quarterly crime reports released by the FBI, but uses similar methodology. The FBI’s next report, which will cover the first six months of 2024, will be released in September.
Crime trends have become an issue in the presidential election, with Republican nominee Donald Trump and his allies claiming repeatedly that crime has sharply increased since he left office. They often tie their claims of increasing crime to unauthorized immigration, despite data that crime nationally has been declining since 2023.
“Wouldn’t we love to have a statistic where crime is down 67%? Ours is only going in one direction,” Trump said in April.
Democrats have said that while crime increased in 2021 and 2022 coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been declining sharply since 2023 and is now approaching pre-pandemic levels.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a statement Monday saying Biden administration policies have played a key role in the drop in crime over the past 18 months.
“Three and a half years ago, the Justice Department launched an ambitious strategy to combat violent crime rooted in investing in our partnerships with other federal law enforcement agencies, with state and local law enforcement who risk their lives to keep their communities safe every day, and with the communities we all serve,” Garland said. “The Justice Department’s work together with our partners to drive down violent crime is paying off.”
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