PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia’s top cop said 2025 saw the lowest number of homicide victims in nearly 60 years.
According to Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, there were 222 homicides in Philly over the last year. The last time the city had fewer than 230 homicide victims, he said, was 1966.
“Being able to turn the tide to a place where we thought we would never be,” he said, “it’s great.”
According to a Pew research study, Philly had the largest reductions in homicides in 2023 and 2024. “In 2021 I think we were [at] 562 homicides,” Bethel told KYW Newsradio, “so we've had a 61% reduction over that period of time.”
He gave detectives a lot of the credit. More than 80% of all homicides were solved in 2025 and about 40% of shootings where people were wounded — which cuts down on retaliatory gunfire.
“It also sends a message across the city that if you engage in gunfire, we're coming after you, and if we do come after you, there's a high percentage that we're going to get you,” Bethel said, who added that the department investigates those non-fatal shootings like homicides.
The commissioner also credited technology with a large impact on the city’s drop in homicides, including license plate readers, forensics advancements, body cameras, phones and drones.
Bethel said he applauds services being offered, including people knocking on doors and trying to get those who may pick up guns to make better choices.
“Today, you have a group violence intervention program that has a plethora of services to offer a young person today who wants to get out of that life,” he said.
However, while the impact of their efforts on the city’s violence has been significant, Bethel acknowledged lives have still been lost. “Still far too many,” he said, “but we also look at how many lives have been saved by reducing those numbers.”