Homicides Are Down in Some Large US Cities

"We're very disappointed," Jackson said. "If one person gets killed, it's a problem. These are not just statistics. Somebody cared about these people."

In the nation's biggest cities, homicides in New York rose 5.2 percent, to 522 from 496 the year before, while slayings in Los Angeles were down — 376 in 2008 compared to 400 the prior year.

Homicides in Los Angeles have plunged 27 percent during the past five years, which police officials attributed to a reduction of gang-related crime.

"We have shown time and again that if you invest in law enforcement and hold police accountable ... you will absolutely have a very definitive effect on crime," said Los Angeles Assistant Police Chief Earl Paysinger.

Houston, Minneapolis, Jacksonville, Fla., Boston, San Jose, Calif., San Francisco, Oakland, Calif., Tulsa, Okla., also all had fewer slayings last year than the year before. Chicago, Columbus, Ohio, Washington, D.C., Tucson, Ariz., Kansas City, Mo., St. Louis, Indianapolis, Seattle and Charlotte, N.C., had more killing.

In the 25 cities there were a combined 4,291 slayings in 2008, an overall 2.7 percent drop from the 4,409 recorded in 2007. Data was not reviewed for another 27 cities classified by the Census Bureau as having a 2007 population of over 350,000, however.

Preliminary data in Chicago showed 508 homicides were reported in 2008, the first time the city had more than 500 murders since 2003 and about 15 percent more than the 442 homicides reported in 2007.

St. Louis ended the year with 167 homicides, the highest number since 204 people were killed in 1995. Kansas City had 126 slayings, just one shy of the 127 in 2005 — the most for any year this decade. Columbus recorded 108 homicides, up 37 percent from the 79 recorded the previous year.

"This is a bad year," Columbus police Cmdr. Richard Bash said. "It's extremely serious, in all honesty. We have a lot of victims and victims' families that are devastated."