The Metro: Homicides are down. This former FBI agent credits community leaders.
Violent crime fell sharply across the U.S. in 2025, with Detroit recording its fewest homicides in decades. Former FBI Detroit chief Andy Arena joins The Metro to discuss what may be driving the decline.
The FBI put out its 2025 crime numbers this month, and they show the largest year-to-year decline in violent crime rates since estimations began in 1936. Robbery fell 18.5%. Murder dropped by 18 percent — that rate is now tied with 1955 for the lowest ever recorded in this country.
Detroit is part of that trend. The city ended last year with the lowest number of homicides since 1965. Carjackings dropped 46 percent.
What nobody fully agrees on is why. Detroit police credit a mix of strategies: More officers, a different approach to mental health calls, and community violence intervention — those are programs staffed by people from the neighborhoods where the shooting happens.
Andy Arena spent 24 years in the FBI and ran its Detroit division. He now leads the Detroit Crime Commission. He spoke about why violent crime is declining with host Robyn Vincent.
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