Miami Sees Decrease in Murders, Shootings: City Stats

Violent crime is down in Miami, according to the latest statistics released by the city Monday.

Crime stats for the first quarter of the year show the city is moving in the right direction. For the first three months of 2023, murders are down 36% in the city. In 2022, there were 11 homicides reported during that time period. This year, seven homicides have been reported. Shootings are down almost 60% compared to the same time last year.

The number of people shot is down almost 70% from year to year, from 51 in 2022 down to 16 in 2023.

City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has a gallery outside of this office with pictures of children who were killed by gun violence in the Miami area.

“He could be the next mayor of Miami, she could,” Suarez said as he pointed to their portraits. “I put this up when I became mayor.”

He said it’s a constant reminder to make safety a priority, which is the number one priority for Miami Chief of Police Manny Morales, who said he’s happy that the homicide numbers are so low.

“For a major city, we are incredibly proud of that," he said.

"They are extremely accurate," Morales said of the data.

So what’s the reason behind the drop? The mayor points to a good ecosystem and supporting police.

“We are number one in wage growth. We are rated the happiest city in America, and the healthiest city in America. So when people are working, they are happy, thankfully they are not doing bad things,” Suarez said.

The chief credits good relationships with the prosecutor’s office and other law enforcement agencies.

“We know that criminals do not know jurisdictional boundaries so we have a close-knit network of information exchange,” Morales said. “We know the city of Miami is not geographically large. We are very vertical, we are only 40 square miles, so we know the issues where they are happening. If we know we have police presence here, we know we are kind of preventing the issues from taking place.”