Detroit has been celebrating a remarkable decline in crime lately, reporting fewer criminal homicides in 2023 than in any year since 1966. Non-fatal shootings were also down year over year; so were carjackings, robberies and sexual assaults.

But the good news on crime prompts two questions: First, why have crime rates dropped so dramatically? And second, why hasn’t the city’s image as a dangerous place improved along with the crime rate?

Many reasons are offered for the decline in criminal behavior both in Detroit and elsewhere, and there is no consensus. Detroit Police Chief James White credits better policing – including using newly available funds to put 200 more officers on the street, as well as newer technologies like the “ShotSpotter” (now named SoundThinking) system that alerts police to gunfire in real time.

Then, too, Detroit police have stepped up enforcement against such activities as drag racing that can lead to violence and other illegal after-hours gatherings. And, more money has been available recently for mental health interventions.

“Being able to engage in a variety of different programs and having the funding to do it has led to success,” White told Crain’s

Detroit has also partnered with county, state and federal authorities to crack down on likely crime scenarios such as drag racing and gun crimes. The U.S. Attorney-backed One Detroit strategy in the city’s 8th and 9th precincts, where some of the worst crime had occurred, included increased federal prosecution for gun crimes and gang activities.

Federal agencies including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agency are all involved in crime-reduction efforts in the city.

Mayor Mike Duggan echoed White’s remarks when the lower crime statistics were released last January.

“In 2023, many cities in the U.S. saw a reduction in crime as the COVID-era violence has begun to abate,” Duggan said.  “What’s truly remarkable is that Detroit’s homicides dropped below pre-covid levels.  I want to thank the men and women of the Detroit Police Department and all of the other partners in the law enforcement system that made this possible.”  

However, it’s important to note that there are other explanations for less crime beyond more cops on the beat and better policing methods. Chris Johnson, president of the nonprofit Bagley Community Council on Detroit’s northwest side, credits his more activist neighbors for his area’s safer streets and rising home values.

In the Bagley district, where home values have been rising, “People tend to pay more attention to their neighbors,” Johnson said. “We keep the blight down. The houses are pretty much kept up. Crime usually depends on how well the area is kept. Major crimes are not prevalent in this area.” Indeed, even interventions like cleaning up vacant lots and cutting the grass have been credited with reducing crime.

And professionals who study crime offer still other explanations. An aging population tends to see less crime as youths “age out” of the typical years for criminal activity. Some theories even cite less leaded gasoline in our cars; less lead pollution in the air means less damage to the brains of youngsters, which in turn means less cognitive decline and therefore less anti-social behavior.

If there’s no consensus why crime is down, it’s clear that the lower rate hasn’t fully translated into a better reputation for Detroit. Chief White says it’s a hangover from the bad old days when Detroit had an image as the nation’s murder capital.

“Some of those old stories still come up, that Detroit is crime ridden and bankrupt,” he told Crain’s.

That may be true enough. But Peter J. Hammer, a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, says perceptions that crime is out of control stem in part from America’s unresolved conflicts over race.

“Perceptions of crime are really reflections of racial anxiety,” Hammer said. Among much else, he cites the current political ads blanketing the airways depicting dark-skinned immigrants supposedly preying on innocent Americans.

“If you all you get is this notion of how dangerous the world is and how dangerous the racial ‘other’ is, a natural human response is ‘My God, crime is way out of control!’  That’s not the only factor but that is one of the things that is stoking perceptions.”

Then, too, when a particularly gruesome crime does occur in Detroit, the news can override the more upbeat crime statistics. There was the horrific block party shooting in July on Detroit’s east side that left two people dead and 19 others wounded. And the 2023 stabbing death of Lafayette Park resident Samantha Woll equally sent shock waves through an otherwise peaceful area.

But as White acknowledges, a big reason for any negative image of the city is that crime remains too high, even as the overall rate has come down. Detroit saw 252 criminal homicides in 2023, and while that marked a dramatic reduction from previous years, it’s still a lot of murders.

Comparisons with European cities where guns are more tightly regulated are sobering. Last year, Detroit reported one homicide for roughly every 2,500 residents. That rate is 10 times higher than the homicide rate in Stockholm, and Sweden, and 30 times higher than the rate in London, England. London had fewer than half the number of Detroit’s homicides even while its population was roughly 14 times greater.

As White told Crain’s, “We’re not celebrating these (lower crime rates). There’s way too much gun violence in our city.”