Washington has historically endured high crime, particularly violent offences. The city was once described as the "murder capital" of the United States during the early 1990s. The number of murders peaked in 1991 at 479, but then began to decline, reaching a historic low of 88 in 2012, the lowest total since 1961. In 2016, the district's Metropolitan Police Department tallied 135 homicides, a 53% increase from 2012 but a 17% decrease from 2015. Violent crime per-capita has steadily declined since 2012, aside from a spike in 2023 (when D.C. recorded 274 homicides, a 20-year high); in 2024, violent crimes per-capita reached their lowest levels since 2010, and as of August 2025 police statistics had so far recorded a 7% decrease in overall crime year-over-year, and a 26% decrease in violent crime.