U.S. Homicides Drop 25% Below 2019 Levels in 2025 After Federal Violence Intervention Grants Are Cut

Homicides across the United States fell 25 percent below 2019 totals in 2025, according to the Council on Criminal Justice. The New York Police Department recorded the city’s fewest murders in its history during the first four months of 2026. Baltimore, Buffalo and Salt Lake City each posted declines exceeding 40 percent between 2019 and 2025.

Baltimore recorded the largest homicide-rate reduction among 35 cities tracked by the Council on Criminal Justice. The Trump administration terminated millions of dollars in grants to LifeBridge Health and at least two other Baltimore organizations that conducted street-level conflict mediation. The same administration ended grants to the Urban Peace Institute in Los Angeles.

In April 2025 the Department of Justice removed more than $800 million from its Office of Justice Programs that had supported gun-violence prevention and response. ” Minneapolis recorded a 30 percent rise in its homicide rate in 2025 compared with 2019. In 2023 resident Zachary Coppola sued the city, alleging improper procedures in awarding violence-prevention contracts.

The city settled and agreed to require applicants to describe services in “sufficient detail” for evaluation; an audit of past contracts is scheduled for release in June. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed suit earlier in May 2026 against We Push for Peace. 5 million for a Las Vegas trip, child-support payments, and funding for Pollard’s liquor store and car dealership.

A We Push for Peace worker was recorded in 2021 striking a homeless man outside a grocery store. ” In 2020 San Francisco began an intensive mentorship program for individuals identified as high-risk for gun violence. The targeted district recorded a 50 percent drop in homicides and non-fatal shootings relative to the rest of the city, according to a University of Pennsylvania report.