A new mid-year analysis from the Council on Criminal Justice finds that crime continues to decline across many major US cities, a trend that broadly mirrors improving public safety indicators in Maryland.
The Council on Criminal Justice’s mid-year 2026 analysis finds that the broad decline in crime seen nationally in 2025 has continued into 2026. Across the 36 large US cities examined, nine of 13 crime categories declined, with homicides down 18 percent compared with the same period last year. The report indicates the country is on pace for what could be a historic low in homicide, while aggravated assaults and residential burglaries also declined. At the same time, the trends are not uniform: shoplifting, drug offenses, sexual assaults, and domestic violence increased modestly, and several individual cities experienced homicide increases. The authors caution that the report documents trends rather than proving that any particular criminal justice policy or practice caused the declines.
For Maryland, the larger takeaway is that the state’s public safety trends should be viewed within a broader national decline in serious violence, while still recognizing that local conditions can vary significantly by jurisdiction. Maryland’s major population centers have experienced substantial reductions in homicide from the elevated levels seen during the pandemic-era, but persistent challenges involving violent repeat offenders, gun violence, auto theft, and other property crimes continue to require targeted local strategies. The national data also reinforces the value of looking beyond a single headline crime statistic: while homicides and many violent offenses are falling, some categories are moving in the opposite direction. For Maryland counties and municipalities, that suggests continued attention to the specific crime patterns affecting individual communities rather than assuming that statewide or national trends tell the whole story. The Maryland Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy also tracks crime data statewide by county and municipality and recognizes similar trends. Current data shows results from 2019 to 2024 with more updates pending.
