Detroit homicides up 6 percent in first six months of 2015

Homicides in Detroit earlier this year looked to be sky-high,  but through the first six months of 2015, rates in the city appear to be leveling off.

Still, the city’s homicide total is up six percent year-to-date when compared to the same period in 2014, according to the Detroit Police Department.

Through June 7, Detroit police have recorded 115 homicides — a 6.1 percent increase over the same period in 2014, when there were 108.

The city’s homicide rate was sharply trajecting higher earlier this year; through April 1, rates were up nearly 25 percent over the same period in 2014, when the city witnessed its lowest total in decades.

A DPD spokesperson didn’t return a request for comment on what, if any, changes the department plans to implement to curb homicides in a city that continues to lose residents to neighboring communities year after year.

Last year, Detroit's homicide count ended at 304, down from 333 the previous year. However, the city's homicide rate remained at 44 per 100,000 residents, one of the highest in the nation.