Elevated crime rates have remained a major concern for voters and a central topic of debate through the past two election cycles.
A new report, however, indicates that several major U.S. cities have recorded sharp declines in violent crime.
Homicides fell 17.3% from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30, 2026, compared with the same period in 2025, according to a survey of 66 U.S. law enforcement agencies conducted by the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA). The report reviewed four categories of violent crime: homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Robberies declined 13.3%, aggravated assaults dropped 4% and reported rapes decreased 3.8%.
Federal law enforcement officers stand at the intersection of Beale Street and North Second Street on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Memphis, Tennessee. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Memphis, Tennessee, posted the largest overall decline, with violent crime down 29% from 2025. Tulsa, Oklahoma, recorded a reduction of nearly 29%, while Indianapolis, Indiana, saw violent crime fall 24%.
Tulsa also recorded the steepest drop in homicides, with killings declining 71%, the MCCA report found. Homicides fell 65% in Aurora, Colorado, and dropped 59% in Newark, New Jersey.
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Rape reports in Buffalo, New York, fell by half. Tulsa recorded a 37% decline, while Memphis saw rapes decrease 28%.
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Indianapolis has experienced a consistent decline in crime across all of its districts, according to the police department’s public affairs office, which spoke with News Media.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has focused on removing illegal guns from the streets as part of its effort to reduce violent crime. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
The department credited several initiatives and partnerships for the decline, including a task force designed to remove illegal guns from “the hands of individuals who use them to commit crimes.”
“The entire city benefits when crime goes down,” a department spokesperson wrote in an email. “This isn’t something that benefits just one neighborhood or one group of people, it benefits everyone who lives, works, and visits Indianapolis.”
A recent analysis by the National Council on Criminal Justice examined possible reasons for the nationwide decline in homicides.
Members of the Memphis Safe Task Force, the FBI and local police patrol the entertainment district on Beale Street in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, on Oct. 16, 2025. (REUTERS/Karen Pulfer Focht)
Researchers pointed to proactive policing and deterrence-focused strategies as possible factors in the decline. They also said a return to normalcy after the social and economic disruption caused by the pandemic may be contributing to the improvement.
The decline is not limited to the nation’s largest cities. Smaller communities are reporting record-low crime levels as well.
Polk County, Florida, located near the center of the state, is experiencing its lowest crime rate in 54 years, Sheriff Grady Judd told News Media.
“Our index crime, rapes, robberies, murders, thefts, grand thefts, burglaries, auto thefts are at historic lows in this county,” Judd said.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd credits tough-on-crime policing with the sharp decline in violent crime. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
Judd attributed the results to tough-on-crime policies implemented by the sheriff’s office and its partnership with the local state attorney.
“We don’t hold this as a secret. I tell people up front, ‘Hey, if you do this, you’re going to jail. We’re going to arrest you.’
“If you get online and solicit prostitution, we’re going to arrest you,” he said. “If you get online and human traffic or try to human traffic children or adults, we’re going to arrest you. If you are a sexual predator going after our children online, we’re going to arrest you and we’re going to send you to prison for a very long time.”