Homicides in Birmingham are down 46 percent in the first five months of 2025 after the city ended last year with a homicide total that broke a record set in 1933.

The city’s mayor on Friday credited police and the community for the drop.

To date, 32 people have been killed since the start of the new year. As of May 30 in 2024, there had been 58 homicides.

Birmingham ended the first quarter with a 47 percent drop in homicides.

In all of Jefferson County, there have been 48 homicides compared to 81 at the same time last year.

Various homicide databases show drops in the murder rate nationwide in the first quarter of 2025, and some analysts say the U.S. could see the lowest murder rate in recent memory.

Leading crime analyst Jeff Asher said it’s “plausible.”

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin in a social media post said he’s seeing “impressive” work from the police department under the leadership of Chief Michael Pickett.

“The Birmingham Police Department is extremely aggressive in what they’re doing and how they’re taking a different approach in policing our community,” Woodfin said.

The mayor pointed out a significant increase in crime-fighting technology from the city’s Real Time Crime Center, but said the community has really stepped up and said his proposed budget includes a boost in funding for Crime Stoppers as a result.

“They are calling Crime Stoppers. They are calling 911. They’re talking to beat officers. They’re talking to investigators, homicide detectives,” he said. “When you share information, it doesn’t allow the criminal element to be emboldened and hide behind fear of people.”

“We don’t have the luxury to be intimidated,” Woodfin said. “People want to know why crime is down? It’s because the community is doing their part.”

Additionally, the homicide clearance rate is at 79 percent, an all-time high.

“Those who are killing people are not just walking our streets,” the mayor said. “The criminal element is on notice,” the mayor said. “If you shoot somebody in the city and/or if you kill somebody in the city you will be arrested.”

Additionally, he said, the violence reduction initiatives – which includes street teams out in the field talking to people de-escalating situations and decreasing retaliation – appear to be taking hold.

“All of those combined,” he said, “have led to a decrease in homicides.”