Delaware saw lowest violent crime rate on record in 2023, officials say

Law enforcement officials in Delaware, on Monday, shared statistics that, they claim, show that, last year, the state saw its lowest rate of violent crimes since they started tracking the statistics.

In fact, in a report that officials shared that breaks down some of the statistics, officials said Delaware’s violent crime rate saw a 40% decrease since 2008 -- according to the most recently available statistics from Delaware’s Criminal Justice Council.

They said that gun violence crime rates have declined by 20% the highs seen during the 2020 pandemic, including a 40% decline in shootings during the summer months.

“I’ve never seen another jurisdiction accomplish the things that Delaware is doing simultaneously,” Jennings in a statement on the statistics. “Violent crime, shootings, prison populations, and recidivism have all plummeted in our state, and the latest data tells us that the decline is not a fluke. None of us is declaring mission accomplished — but Delaware is setting itself apart as a national leader in violence reduction. We should all be proud of that progress.

Also, the state saw an impact on violence reduction in Delaware's urban centers, as officials said homicides in Wilmington have declined by 56% since pandemic highs, finishing 2023 with the lowest homicides in five years.

Shootings in Dover, they said, declined by 23% over the same period.

Officials also saw progress in curbing repeat offenders, as recidivism has declined by 60%, officials said, and overall, the state's prison population has dropped by 24% since 2018.

During Monday's event, Jennings credited these results to a number of initiatives, including the intelligence-sharing program GunStat, Delaware's Senate Bill 7 from 2021 -- that updated the bail statute to increase bail amounts on gun and other violent crimes -- along with ongoing community policing efforts and the prosecutions of gang members.