January 8, 2024

Philadelphia Homicides 1960-2023

Philadelphia Homicides: A 63 Year Review

I’ve been concerned about homicides, shootings and violence since my teenage years in West Philadelphia. A terrible incident involving my best childhood friend made news stories of violence much more real to me as a young Black boy. As I became involved more and more in community service, and later neighborhood and city politics, my focus intensified.

I am particularly committed to ending violence in the Black community, and directly engaged in efforts to stop the daily slaughter of Black men and boys. It is heartbreaking and unacceptable what is happening in Philadelphia and cities across America, the disproportionate daily injury and death of young Black men.

I believe in data, evidence, focus, intentionality and leadership as the combination to successfully reduce violence in our cities. During my time as Mayor, I wanted to see and evaluate trends, episodes and timelines of homicides specifically in Philadelphia over a 40-50 period of time to better understand where the city was before my time as Mayor, and set goals for ourselves in order to be accountable to the public and our public servants. I asked the Police Department for the annual homicide statistics going back as far as they could up to and including my time in office. Since leaving office, I have maintained an updated chart, in order to see the trendlines and timeframes, and see what was going on during any of the Mayoral terms over that now 63 year period.

The chart also lays out information about the use of guns in homicides, because the overwhelming majority of homicides are committed with guns, almost all of which are being illegally used or possessed. Lastly, calculations are made to develop an average yearly rate for each Mayor whether serving 1 or 2 terms, in order to assess the overall level of safety in the city during those timeframes. The annual number of homicides is certainly not the only measure of safety in any city, but it is the most violent type of crime, and often the crime that most citizens care about a great deal.

As citizens, we should not have to live with the daily fear of violent crime spiraling out of control. The current trendlines are not good, with 5 straight years of rising annual homicide numbers. The Years 2021 and 2022 saw the highest numbers of annual homicides in 63 years, while just 5-8 years ago the city was experiencing the lowest annual homicide totals in nearly 50 years. We do not, should not and can not just accept that so many fellow Philadelphians will die and there is very little that can be done.

The data shows that we have been safer. Using data, presenting evidence of what works, displaying focus, being intentional about goals and demonstrating exceptional public leadership to slow down and end the devasting violence across this city, especially in communities of color, will make Philadelphia safer in which to work, raise our families and enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Please see the chart, and use the data to demand change.

 

                PHILADELPHIA HOMICIDES – TOTAL AND PERCENTAGE BY FIREARMS 1960-2023*

 

YEAR	TOTAL	% BY ALL FIREARM	MAYOR	# HOMICIDES/AVG. Per Year
1960	150	N/A	Richardson Dilworth	294 Homicides in 2 Year Term
1961	144	N/A	Richardson Dilworth
1962	124	N/A	James H.J. Tate	2374 Homicides in 10 Year Term
1963	125	N/A	James H.J. Tate	237 Average # Homicides Per Year
1964	188	N/A	James H.J. Tate
1965	205	N/A	James H.J. Tate
1966	178	N/A	James H.J. Tate
1967	234	N/A	James H.J. Tate
1968	262	N/A	James H.J. Tate
1969	271	N/A	James H.J. Tate
1970	352	N/A	James H.J. Tate
1971	435	N/A	James H.J. Tate
1972	413	N/A	Frank L. Rizzo, Sr.	3121 Homicides in 8 Year Term
1973	430	N/A	Frank L. Rizzo, Sr.	390 Average # Homicides Per Year
1974	444	N/A	Frank L. Rizzo, Sr.
1975	435	N/A	Frank L. Rizzo, Sr.
1976	339	N/A	Frank L. Rizzo, Sr.
1977	323	N/A	Frank L. Rizzo, Sr.
1978	351	N/A	Frank L. Rizzo, Sr.
1979	385	N/A	Frank L. Rizzo, Sr.
1980	437	N/A	William J. Green, III	1444 Homicides in 4 Year Term
1981	363	N/A	William J. Green, III	361 Average # Homicides Per Year
1982	332	N/A	William J. Green, III
1983	312	N/A	William J. Green, III
1984	263	49.4%	W. Wilson Goode, Sr.	3005 Homicides in 8 Year Term
1985	274	50.0%	W. Wilson Goode, Sr.	375 Average # Homicides Per Year
1986	343	43.1%	W. Wilson Goode, Sr.
1987	338	47.6%	W. Wilson Goode, Sr.
1988	371	52.6%	W. Wilson Goode, Sr.
1989	476	64.5%	W. Wilson Goode, Sr.
1990	500	67.4%	W. Wilson Goode, Sr.
1991	440	72.5%	W. Wilson Goode, Sr.
1992	425	72.9%	Edward G. Rendell	3168 Homicides in 8 Year Term
1993	439	79.5%	Edward G. Rendell	396 Average # Homicides Per Year
1994	404	71.3%	Edward G. Rendell
1995	432	77.1%	Edward G. Rendell
1996	420	79.8%	Edward G. Rendell
1997	418	79.9%	Edward G. Rendell
1998	338	80.2%	Edward G. Rendell
1999	292	80.1%	Edward G. Rendell
2000	319	80.6%	John F. Street	2768 Homicides in 8 Year Term
2001	309	79.3%	John F. Street	346 Average # Homicides Per Year
2002	288	80.9%	John F. Street
2003	348	78.2%	John F. Street
2004	330	79.7%	John F. Street
2005	377	81.2%	John F. Street
2006	406	84.5%	John F. Street
2007	391	83.9%	John F. Street
2008	331	84.0%	Michael A. Nutter	2368 Homicides in 8 Year Term
2009	302	80.1%	Michael A. Nutter	296 Average # Homicides Per Year
2010	306	79.4%	Michael A. Nutter
2011	324	81.5%	Michael A. Nutter
2012	331	84.8%	Michael A. Nutter
2013	246	81.3%	Michael A. Nutter
2014	248	83.1%	Michael A. Nutter
2015	280	84.3%	Michael A. Nutter
2016	277	Data Not Available	James F. Kenney	3283 Homicides in 8 Year Term
2017	315	Data Not Available	James F. Kenney	410 Average # Homicides Per Year
2018	353	Data Not Available	James F. Kenney
2019	353	Data Not Available	James F. Kenney
2020	499	Data Not Available	James F. Kenney
2021	562	Data Not Available	James F. Kenney
2022	514	Data Not Available	James F. Kenney
2023	410	Data Not Available	James F. Kenney
*Data Source: Philadelphia Police Department