INDIANAPOLIS -- Despite another record-breaking year of violence in 2016, Indianapolis saw the lowest overall increase in homicides of any city of a similar population.
Going into the year, former IMPD chief Troy Riggs, who resigned in December, said he projected Indy's homicide total could reach anywhere from 160-180 in 2016.
Indianapolis had just come off its deadliest year in recorded history in 2015, with 144 homicides. In the previous six months alone, Riggs said, 90 people had been killed.
And so, even though 2016 was again Indy's deadliest year ever, its 3.4-percent increase over 2015 showed progress, Riggs said.
"The biggest reason, I think, that we didn't see the 56% increase of Chicago, the 46% increase of my hometown, Louisville, Kentucky, the 14% we saw nationally, is that people really rallied around us and got to work. When people call Indianapolis and ask for information, they find it hard to believe that Indianapolis is at 4%."
(The year initially ended with 150 homicides, which would have been a 4-percent increase compared to 2015. IMPD later reclassified one of those deaths as a non-criminal homicide.)
RTV6 took a look at the six U.S. cities closest to Indy's population to put Riggs' claims to the test.
Our analysis showed that Indianapolis saw the lowest increase in homicides out of six other cities with similar populations:
- Austin, TX: 931,830
- Jacksonville, FL: 868,031
- San Francisco, CA: 864,816
- Indianapolis, IN: 853,173
- Columbus, OH: 850,106
- Fort Worth, TX: 833,319
- Charlotte, NC: 827,097
All of the cities, except for Austin, saw a lower homicide increase than the national average of 14 percent.
Indy's homicide increase was also about a third of the 10 percent it saw between 2015 to 2016, and again a third of the roughly 9 percent it has averaged over the past five years.
If Indianapolis had seen the average homicide increase among cities its size (9 percent), it would have ended 2016 with 157 homicides. At the national average of 14 percent, it would have reached 164 homicides for the year.
But the news isn't all positive for Indianapolis. While its homicide increase was the lowest amount its cohort cities, it also saw the most overall homicides out of the group. Jacksonville, Florida, ranked second with 120 homicides, with Columbus, Ohio, coming in at third with 106. Austin, Texas, which saw the largest homicide increase, also had the fewest homicides at 39.
As of Tuesday, Indianapolis police had reported five homicides so far in 2017. Of those, three were believed to be criminal acts. That's compared to seven homicides at this point in 2016, of which six were classified as criminal acts.
2016 HOMICIDES IN-DEPTH | The 2016 Indianapolis Homicide Map | 2016's Unsolved Homicides | 2016's Most Dangerous Neighborhoods
