Video President Trump went on offense to crush violent crime, FBI Director Kash Patel says FBI Director Kash Patel highlights Operation Summer Heat 2.0’s statistics on ‘Hannity.’
High crime rates have worried voters and captivated conversations during the past two election cycles.
Now, a report shows that some major U.S. cities have achieved dramatic drops in violent crime.
From Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2026, homicides plunged 17.3% compared to the same period last year, according to a recent survey of 66 U.S. law enforcement agencies by the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA). The review examined data from four categories: homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault – robberies decreased 13.3%, aggravated assaults 4% and rapes 3.8%.
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Federal law enforcement officers stand at the interception of Beale St. and N. Second St., Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
The overall violent crime reduction from 2025 was greatest in Memphis, Tennessee, where overall crime fell by 29%. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, rates fell nearly 29%. Indianapolis, Indiana, saw 24% less violent crime.
Tulsa led in the biggest drop in homicides. There, killings dropped by 71%, according to the MCCA report. Aurora, Colorado experienced a 65% decline in homicides. And in Newark, New Jersey, they fell by 59%.
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Cases of rape were cut by half in Buffalo, New York. They fell by 37% in Tulsa and 28% in Memphis.
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Indianapolis has seen a steady reduction in crime spread across all its districts, the police department’s public affairs office told Fox News Digital.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has been targeting illegal guns in an effort to stomp out violent crime in the city. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
That city attributes the drop in crime to several initiatives and partnerships, including a task force that removes illegal guns from "the hands of individuals who use them to commit crimes."
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"The entire city benefits when crime goes down," a spokesperson for the department 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 assessment by the National Council on Criminal Justice sought to explain the declining homicide rate in the United States.
The Memphis Safe Task Force, members of the FBI and police patrol in the entertainment district, Beale Street, in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, Oct. 16, 2025. (REUTERS/Karen Pulfer Focht)
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Proactive policing and a focus on deterrence strategies were among the theories credited for the decline. Researchers also agreed that a restoration to normalcy after pandemic-related social and economic disruptions could be having a positive effect.
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Smaller municipalities also are seeing record-low crime.
Polk County, Florida, near the middle of the state, boasts crime rates at a 54-year low, Sheriff Grady Judd told Fox News Digital.
"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 violent crime rates plummeting. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
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He attributes that to the tough-on-crime policies within the sheriff’s office and the agency’s 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.’
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"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."
