After one of the most violent years since the 1990s in 2022, Birmingham saw a decrease in homicides in 2023, but violent crime still rose slightly overall.
According to reports, Birmingham released its annual crime statistics on Friday, recording a 7.4% decrease in murders from 135 murders in 2022 to 125 murders in 2023.
Per the Birmingham Police Department, officials launched another homicide investigation on New Year’s Eve, bringing the total to 126. There were also nine justifiable death investigations in 2023, the same number as last year.
Though the year’s total was a decrease from 2022 levels, it still exceeds the 132 homicides reported in 2021 and the 122 in 2020.
Other violent crime categories, such as rape and robbery, also saw declines from 2022. Nevertheless, the city saw a 3.1% increase in aggravated assaults and a .6% increase in violent crime overall, with a total of 2832 violent crimes having been committed in the city in 2023 compared to last year’s 2814.
Given the most recent U.S. Census Bureau population estimate, one violent crime was committed in 2023 for every 70 Birmingham residents.
As for property crime, the city saw a drastic increase in auto theft. Whereas there were only 1,418 auto thefts in 2022, there were 1,529 in 2020, a 24% increase. Theft also rose by 17.4%, and property crime overall by 14.1%. The only property crime metric to decrease was burglary, which saw a 5.7% decline.
Crime in general in Birmingham increased by 10.7%, from 11,203 crimes committed in 2022 to 12,402 in 2023.
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