CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Homicides are plummeting in several American cities, a new report from the Wall Street Journal shows.
Data gathered by Wall Street Journal reporters looked at statistics from various police departments. It showed many U.S. large cities saw a decrease in homicides while Charlotte saw an increase.
In the first quarter of last year, Charlotte had 25 homicides. In the first quarter of this year, there were 34, which is almost a 36% increase.
Compared to other big cities in the United States, Philadelphia saw a 35% drop in homicides as of April 12 when compared to the same period last year.
In New York City, homicides fell 15% through April 7. This year, they have had 88 homicides compared to 104 homicides last year.
Nashville saw a 44% decrease in homicides as of April 6 when it reported 20 total homicides compared to 36 homicides last year.
Like Charlotte, Atlanta is one of the cities seeing an increase. Atlanta is reporting a 23% increase. In the first three months of the year, Atlanta had 27 homicides this year compared to 22 in the same time period last year.
It's true that while some other larger U.S. cities are seeing a decrease in killings, the trend is going the other way in Charlotte.
Contact Meghan Bragg at mbragg@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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