In New York City, 333 people were murdered in 2015. That is an increase of 348 in 2014. Violent crime has dropped across most cities in the past several years. However, five cities posted more than 250 murders in the year just ended.
In Philadelphia, 279 people were murdered last year, up from 248 the year before, according to Philadelphia Police Department numbers.
In Los Angeles, 295 people were murdered last year, according to the LA Times.
According to the Chicago Police Department, 468 people were murdered in the city. The Chicago Tribune reported:
Despite being the nation's third most populous city, Chicago far outpaces New York City, Los Angeles and every other large city in America in the sheer number of homicide and shooting victims, though it fares better than some smaller cities on a per capita comparison.
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According to the Houston Chronicle, 283 people were murdered there last year.
And, finally, although it barely classifies as a big city anymore, 295 people were murdered in Detroit last year, according to what the Detroit News reports are unofficial numbers. Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Cassandra Lewis told the paper:
“Our detectives are diligently working, even on non-fatal shootings. Non-fatals often lead to fatals if they go unsolved. We’ve also had serious efforts to get unlicensed guns off the street, including traffic enforcement officers confiscating illegal guns.”
The problem across the country is so severe, that last year President Obama tweeted:
Here are the stats: Per population, we kill each other with guns at a rate 297x more than Japan, 49x more than France, 33x more than Israel
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According to the FBI, there were 14,249 cases of murder and non-negligent manslaughter in the United States in 2014. Just a few large cities make up a relatively large portion of that. If the numbers for 2015 are any indication, that pattern will repeated itself — again.
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