Philadelphia recorded the lowest number of homicide victims in 2025 since nearly 60 years ago, writes Kristen Johanson for KYW Newsradio.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel reported that the city and police department saw 222 homicides last year. This marks the first time the city saw fewer than 230 homicide victims since 1966.
“Being able to turn the tide to a place where we thought we would never be,” Commissioner Bethel said, “it’s great.”
This follows a continuous trend.
A Pew research study found that Philadelphia saw the largest reduction in homicides of any other major U.S. city in 2023.
Bethel added that Philadelphia’s alarmingly high 562 reported homicides in 2021 has since seen a 61 percent reduction.
The Police Commissioner credits the city’s detectives as one of the reasons for this reduction.
Specifically, more than 80 percent of all homicides reported in 2025 were solved along with 40 percent of the shootings where people were wounded.
Bethel also credited technological advances for the city’s decline in homicides. This include license plate readers, body cameras, drones, phones, and forensics advancements.
While this reduction is significant and represents a number of lives being saved, Bethel acknowledges that 222 homicides is “still far too many.”
Read more about Philadelphia’s historically low homicide rate last year at KYW Newsradio.
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