Detroit Homicides Climb 10%, Above 'Murder Capital' Era

Detroit lived up to its dangerous reputation this year, as its murder rate shot up 10% to 53 per 100,000 residents—making it higher now than it was 40 years ago, when the city was first nicknamed the "Murder Capital," the Detroit News reports. That also made Detroit the most dangerous of America's 20 most populous city, and second only to New Orleans among all cities with at least 200,000 residents.

"This is a problem that just keeps festering," says one retired police detective. "It's a sad thing to see." Experts blame the city's falling income levels, the drug trade, and a violent culture for the spike. "I can tell you where the more violent parts of the country are going to be by sitting here at my desk and looking at income data," says one criminal justice professor at the University of Detroit. "I don't even have to look at crime data." (More Detroit stories.)