By Keegan Kyle
The number of murders reported by police each year has generally followed the city’s overall crime patterns, which have been decreasing since the 1990s.
With 38 murders last year, San Diego registered far below most major cities. Police reported 89 murders in San Antonio, 116 in Phoenix and 324 in Philadelphia last year. The population of all three cities is similar to San Diego. Only San Jose, with 39 murders last year, came close to San Diego.
The broad trend of declining murders doesn’t mean San Diego is without challenges today. The graphic below illustrates how the number of gang-related murders has climbed this year.
The toll of gang-related murders isn’t felt uniformly across the city. The next graphic illustrates the location of 70 gang-related murders between January 2007 and June this year, according to homicide detectives. Most have occurred in southeastern neighborhoods or neighborhoods around City Heights.
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