PHILADELPHIA - For the first time in nearly a decade, Philadelphia isn’t starting the new year chasing a record homicide rate. In fact, the city is chasing history in the opposite direction.
According to the final 2025 data released by the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) this week, the city finished the year with 220 homicides—the lowest annual total since 1966. The trend has carried over into the first week of 2026, with violent crime down nearly 60% year-to-date compared to this time last year.
What Changed? Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel is crediting a "surgical" approach to policing that began late last year.
- Focused Deterrence: Instead of blanket patrols, the PPD has aggressively targeted the small percentage of "trigger pullers" in specific micro-zones in North and West Philadelphia.
- The "Kensington Effect": The massive, controversial cleanup of the open-air drug market in Kensington (more on that below) has disrupted the city's primary engine of gun violence, removing nearly 850,000 doses of fentanyl and hundreds of illegal firearms from circulation in the last six months alone.
The Skepticism While City Hall is taking a victory lap, community advocates warn that "low" is relative.
- Non-Fatal Shootings: While deaths are down, the number of shooting incidents remains higher than pre-pandemic levels.
- The "Warm Weather" Test: The true test of these new strategies won’t be in January’s cold, but in May. For now, though, the data suggests Philadelphia is finally turning a corner on its darkest era.
