Garrett Curtis, Staff Photographer

New Haven witnessed a general decrease in reported violent crime in 2024, a shift that has continued through 2025.

The City of New Haven’s 2024 CompStat report, which aggregates and analyzes reported crime data, showcased a citywide decline in violent crime, following national trends of decreasing violent crime cases from 2023. Violent crime, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, comprises four types of offenses: rape, robbery, aggravated assault and murder and nonnegligent manslaughter.

Murder cases plummeted by 39.1 percent in 2024, with a corresponding drop in robbery with firearm cases by 20.2 percent. Confirmed shots fired dropped by 34.8 percent since 2023. However, aggravated assault cases rose by 15.7 percent, and assault with firearms rose by 18.4 percent in 2024. 

“The real telling number is the confirmed shots fired,” New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson said. “Our[s] have gone down over [a] five-year period. Those potentially could be people shot, so if you have less shots being fired, you’re eventually going to lead to less violence and people getting hurt.”

The Elm City’s latest CompStat report, which aggregates crime data from January 1 until April 6, noted 20 shots fired in 2025 thus far, a 59.2 percent decrease from the same time period last year. Aggravated assaults also fell by 47.3 percent, and assault with firearm victims fell by 80 percent.

The report does not take into account more recent incidents, including a double homicide 10 minutes from Morse and Ezra Stiles colleges on April 9.

Jacobson credited proactive patrols and the work of plainclothes units with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for the continued decline.

Reported rape cases in 2024, however, increased by 3 percent. Though marginal, the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s 2023 sexual violence injury report showcased a similar trend of increase, as hospital discharge data demonstrated a 19.4 percent rise in female sex assault cases.

“There isn’t a specific trend [to point to] in reported sex assaults. The majority of sex assaults that we see in New Haven [are those in which] the victim knows the perpetrator,” Christian Bruckhart, the New Haven Police Department’s communications officer, said.

Bruckhart explained that the NHPD has seen an improvement in its tools for DNA testing with rape and sexual assault cases, and hopes to gain the community’s trust trust to enable victims to step forward. He further established that victims, regardless of immigration status, should feel protected to report any crime they have experienced.

The 2025 report highlighted a 75 percent decrease in reported rape cases.

“The number one thing I want to do is drive down violent crime,” Jacobson said. “We have to look at our worst issues in the city, and attack [what is] specific to those crimes. We also want to build trust with the community.”

In a more recent interview with the News, Jacobson added that “violent crime is heading in the right direction” and that the Department has even begun to revisit old homicide cases, making several successful shooting arrests.

Nevertheless, he asserted the necessity for increased manpower to enable such detective work.

According to Jacobson, as of April 1, the NHPD was short of 63 budgeted positions across all categories, including 46 patrol officers and 8 detectives. However, the new contract negotiated and signed with the City should ameliorate the Department’s long-chronic understaffing.

“We’re making good progress [and] that’s about having enough time to do it,” Jacobson said. “But if we had enough detectives, we wouldn’t have to worry about it.”

The NHPD is located at 1 Union Ave.