Update: Thursday, 3:45 p.m. -- The Detroit News reports that Police Chief James Craig, unhappy with the homicide rate, is replacing the head of homicide, Capt. Russell Solano, with Capt. Eric Decker.
“We ended 2013 with the exact same number of homicides as New York,” Craig said during a press conference at Police Headquarters Thursday, according to the News. “I’m not proud of this. We’re trending in the right direction, but we still have work to do.
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The number of Detroit homicides dropped in 2013, following a national trend, but the rate was still nothing to brag about.
In fact, Detroit, with a population of about 700,000, recorded the same number of murders as New York, with 8.3 million people, the Detroit News reported.
The city recorded 333 homicides in 2013, a drop of about 14 percent, The Detroit News reported.
Some of the city's high-profile homicides in 2013 included the slaying of a Wayne State University law student and a mass shooting at a barber shop on the city's east side. Justifiable homicides were not included in this figure.
Reporters George Hunter and Holly Fournier of the Detroit News reported that Flint, a city plagued with violent crime, saw homicides drop from 62 in 2012 to 52 as of Monday.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig has repeatedly said the city could still do better and solve more murders, the Detroit News reported. -- A.L.
