Note: “In history” refers to the period in that detailed records have been kept. This generally means the highest rate since at least 1960.
The state of Delaware Statistical Analysis Center just released a new two-hundred-page crime report that includes information about 2021.
As previously reported by this website, Delaware experienced its highest homicide rate in 46 years in 2020. Between 2017-2021, 80.3% of suspects arrested for homicide have been Black. Among juveniles arrested for homicide, 90.9% have been Black. Delaware is only 24% Black.
As the nationwide BLM riots raged, homicides in Pennsylvania and Delaware surged wildly. Interestingly, Maryland homicides already surged during the Baltimore BLM riot of 2015 and remained high. So that state was less affected by the new riots. In nearby New Jersey, homicides saw a major surge in 2019, while rates were still way down in most of the rest of the country.
Pennsylvania set a new record for the highest homicide rate in history in 2020 and an even higher record in 2021. Philadelphia set a new all-time record for its highest homicide rate in 2021.
Year: # of homicides (population, homicide rate)
Delaware Homicides:
1974: 59 (573K, 10.3 per 100k) – former record for highest rate
2017: 53 (958k, 5.5 per 100k)
2018: 48 (967k, 4.7 per 100k)
2019: 52 (977k, 5.3 per 100k)
2020: 84 (987k, 8.5 per 100k)
2021: 107 (1,003k, 10.6k per 100k) – new record for highest rate
Note: Some homicide counts from the Delaware State police are slightly higher than the numbers used by the FBI. This is most likely because the homicide count continued to rise after an official number was submitted to the FBI. We see this kind of thing a lot.
Delaware Homicide Clearance Rates:
2017: 49.1%
2018: 60.4%
2019: 40.4%
2020: 31.1%
2021: 44.9%
Philadelphia Homicides:
1990: 500 (1586k, 31.5 homicides per 100k) – former record for highest rate
2019: 356 (1584k, 22.5 per 100k)
2020: 499 (1584k, 31.5 homicides per 100k) – tie with 1990
2021: 561 (1585k, 35.4 per 100k) – new all time record
Pennsylvania Homicides:
2019: 703 (12,800k, 5.4 per 100k)
2020: 922 (12,780k, 7.2 per 100k) – new record for highest rate
2021: 1,029 (12,960k, 7.9 per 100k) – new record again for highest rate
The previous record for the highest homicide rate was a three way tie between 1975, 1980, and 1993 at 6.8 per 100k.
Note: FBI reports different figures than PA State Police for 2019 and 2020. They report a lot less in 2019 and a lot more in 2020. The homicide rate for 2020 was still a new state record at the time no matter which numbers you use.
Homicide arrests in Delaware from 2017-2021:
