FBI names Detroit second most violent city

DETROIT (WJBK) - The most violent city in America is no longer Detroit, according to the FBI's most recent crime data. St. Louis now tops the list with Detroit coming in at number two.

"I'm not waving the flag of success," Chief James Craig said. “Our work does continue, but we are still trending in the right direction."

The FBI's 2017 Uniform Crime Report shows 267 murders in 2017, compared to 303 in 2016. On Monday, Detroit Police Chief James Craig says crime is still not going down as fast as he'd like.

"We're down as of today, 10 homicides and 74 non-fatal shootings," Craig said. "And this is on the heels of having the lowest number of homicides a year prior."

But last year the FBI's report shows a slight increase in violent crimes in Detroit like rape, assault and robbery. The 2017 data shows 13,796 violent crimes reported, compared to 91 fewer in 2016.

And nationally, the number of violent crimes has slightly decreased.

"This is still a work in progress. Our crime is still technically down," he said. "I know some of the critics would argue with that but it's still true."

Craig previously disputed the FBI's stats because of the department's old software, now says the coordination between the state and the FBI is seamless attributing much of the city's violence to people solving disputes with weapons. He also talked about the effect of mental illness, as well.

"The number of persons suffering from mental illness and the impact that has on reducing violence," he said.

Mayor Mike Duggan reminded Detroiters how far the city has come in the last several years.

"We had a point of which five years ago, we had 380 homicides and last year 260," he said. "That's 260 too many but we're going to work hard every year to make the city safer."