El Paso and other major cities have seen a sharp decline in violent crime so far in 2024

According to a new national report, the number of violent crimes reported to El Paso police fell by nearly 10% in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year.

The Major Cities Chiefs Association report, released on August 8, showed that reported violent crimes – murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault – fell 6% in the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. The report included 69 of the 70 largest cities in the United States – only New York City was excluded because it uses different means to track crime than other cities.

The report showed that every category of violent crime in El Paso declined in the first half of the year. The number of murders fell from 17 in the first half of 2023 to 11 in the same period this year, a 35% decrease.

El Paso had the 25th largest decrease in reported violent crime among the 69 cities studied.

Among other cities in the region, Austin saw a 28% decline, San Antonio saw a 17% decline, Dallas saw a 13.5% decline, Albuquerque saw a 7.5% decline, Houston saw a 4% decline, Fort Worth saw a 3% decline, Arlington saw a 2% decline, and Phoenix was essentially unchanged from the same time last year.

In Tucson, violent crime increased by 2%.

El Paso has seen one of the largest crime declines in the country since the 1990s, but in 2022 and 2023 there was an increase in reported crimes, according to FBI data.

The Major Cities Chiefs Association report is independent of the FBI's quarterly crime reports but uses a similar methodology. The FBI's next report, covering the first six months of 2024, will be released in September.

Crime trends have become an issue in the presidential campaign, as Republican candidate Donald Trump and his allies repeatedly claim that crime has risen sharply since he left office. They often attribute their claims of rising crime to illegal immigration, even though data shows that crime has been declining nationwide since 2023.

“Wouldn't we be happy to have a statistic where crime is down 67 percent? We're only going in one direction,” Trump said in April.

Democrats have said that while crime increased in 2021 and 2022 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has declined sharply since 2023 and is now approaching pre-pandemic levels.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a statement on Monday saying the Biden administration's policies have played a key role in the decline in crime over the past 18 months.

“Three and a half years ago, the Department of Justice launched an ambitious strategy to combat violent crime, built on investments in our partnerships with other federal agencies, with state and local law enforcement who risk their lives every day to keep their communities safe, and with the communities we all serve,” Garland said. “The Department of Justice's collaboration with our partners to reduce violent crime is paying off.”