ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Homicides and overall crime are down in the City of St. Louis, with the city seeing its lowest numbers of homicides in 11 years according to officials.
According to St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones' Office, downtown St. Louis saw 150 homicides in 2024, which is the lowest number of homicides that the city has seen since 2013.
Compared to 2020, homicides in downtown St. Louis dropped 43%.
"While we have seen remarkable progress, 150 homicides in one year are still far too many, and we are committed to using every tool available to us to bring that number down much further," said Mayor Jones in a press conference Tuesday. "Our all-hands-on-deck approach, including close coordination with SLMPD, the Circuit Attorney’s Office, and our community partners, remains effective at continuing this downward trend."
Mayor Jones' Office also claims that overall crime was down 15% year-over-year, and 24% down compared to 2021.
According to data from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police, aggravated assaults, robberies and murder all dropped at least 22% compared to 2021, while felony thefts dropped 42.3% compared to 2021.
However, overall shootings rose up 6% compared to 2023, up almost 4% compared to 2021 and shooting victims rose up 4.7% compared to 2023 and 2021. In addition, burglaries rose up 3.7% compared to 2023.
Juvenile shootings incidents in 2024 slightly rose up from 55 to 59 compared to 2023, but was down 42.7% compared to 2022 and slightly over 3% down compared to 2021. Juvenile shooting victims fell down 46.6% compared to 2022 and 6% compared to 2023.
"2024 was a year of positive progress," said St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy to reporters. "But as Mayor Jones has stated, we have so much more work to do."
"The men and women of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department are dedicated to seeing our positive progress continue into 2025."
Tracy praised St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore as a big reason for why crime is falling.
"Every case, and every arrest that a police officer is making is being seen by a assistant circuit attorney," said Tracy to KMOX News. "We're holding people accountable and we don't have to release them."
Tracy also praised better coordination between the department, communities at large and other organizations like the Office of Violence Prevention, as part of the reason crime is falling.
In 2024, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department relaunched their crime mapping tool. In addition, they revamped its website to make it more user-friendly, and helping the public have access to a weekly CompStat report.