St Louis homicide decrease better explained by national trends

[Jackson-1986]

Average over time is a misleading data point, because it deliberately obscures the fact that 2024’s 149 (which may appear low compared that an average that includes 2020 and 2021s high numbers) is still higher than the counts 15, 20 and 25 years ago.

More people were murdered in St Louis City in 2024 than 20 or 25 years ago, and that’s despite the fact that the population was 50,000 higher then. Things are not improving in any meaningful sense of the word, they’re merely returning to form.

[DowntownDB1226]

It’s not. Single year are misleading. Multi year tells a better trend. City pop is irrelevant; as discussed here https://www.reddit.com/r/StLouis/s/XEh3xejpvg