Homicide rate declines in LV, some other cities

NEW YORK -- Chicago and New York are about to close out 2007 with the lowest number of homicides in more than 40 years, while cities such as Baltimore, Atlanta and Miami have seen killings go up because of what police say is a surge in guns and gang violence.

New York City reported 488 slayings as of Friday, versus 596 for all of 2006. The city is on track to have the lowest number of killings since reliable record-keeping started in 1963.

Homicides in New York reached an all-time high of 2,245 in 1990, making the city the nation's murder capital. Since then, the numbers have plummeted, and experts attribute the decline in part to computerized tracking of crime trends and the practice of strategically flooding high-crime areas with police officers instead of spreading them evenly through the precincts.

With just two days left in the year, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is looking at its lowest homicide rate since 2000.

The department, which serves Las Vegas and unincorporated areas of Clark County, has reported 121 homicides this year -- down from 157 in 2006.

"I can't point to any one thing as to why they're down this year," said homicide Lt. Lew Roberts. "I just can't. I can't figure it out."

However, the Police Department has been hiring more officers since voters in 2004 approved a sales tax increase to put more officers on the streets.

Since 2000, when only 95 homicides were reported, the department has seen a steady rise in murders, peaking last year.

The department also saw a sharp drop in the number of officer-involved shootings this year, from 31 to 15, Roberts said.

Chicago is on track to have the lowest homicide toll since 1965, when police reported 395 killings. The city had logged 435 slayings through Dec. 26. In the early part of the decade, police often reported more than 600 a year.

Chicago officials credit the improvement to their tough stance on gangs, guns and drugs.

"Those three ingredients, so to speak, are what we're focused on," said police spokeswoman Monique Bond. "That's really what leads to random violence."

Those factors were blamed for increases in murders in other cities.

Atlanta had 126 homicides as of Dec. 26, compared with 111 for the same period a year ago. Police attributed some of the increase to a New Orleans-based gang that moved into town after Hurricane Katrina. Members of the International Robbing Crew are accused of killing at least seven people in Atlanta.

In Miami, authorities say the proliferation of assault weapons led to an increase in killings, from 56 in 2005 to 79 in 2006 and 86 so far in 2007.

In other big cities, Phoenix reported 207 killings at the end of November, just shy of last year's total of 214 for the same period; Boston had 66 slayings as of Dec. 28, compared with 71 by the same point in 2006; Dallas was on track to finish considerably higher, with 200 homicides as of Dec. 26, versus 175 last year.

Review-Journal writer Lawrence Mower contributed to this report.