Crime in Phoenix is down for the first half of 2023, a new report shows.

Overall violent crime dropped 2% and property crime fell 19% for the first six months of the year, according to police.

“I think we've got a good momentum going, but there's a lot more to do. This is work that continues every day, and we are not going to let up," said Interim Police Chief Michael Sullivan.

Violent crimes include homicide, robbery, aggravated assault and rape, and while the overall rate was down 2%, homicides and robberies dipped 10%.

Homicides alone are down more than 13%. There was a total of 98 homicides in the first six months of 2023, compared to 113 for the same period in 2022, the latest numbers show. In 82% of the 2023 cases, a firearm was involved.

Robberies are down 12%, but aggravated assaults have remained about the same as the year before, the number show

Authorities said rapes are up 10%. There were 51 more rapes reported in the first six months of this year than in the same period in 2022.

The percentage of people victimized by unknown suspects has remained the same. In more than 66% of the reported rapes, the suspect was known to the victim.

“With this increase in rape cases, comes an increase in sexual assault evidence collection kits needing analysis. Phoenix police is working with outside contracted vendors to assist with analyzing these kits,” a Phoenix Police Department release stated.

Property crimes include burglary, theft, arson and motor vehicle theft. All areas except motor vehicle theft have seen a decrease in the first six months of 2023, police reported.

Looking at the first six months of 2022 and 2023, burglaries are down 10%, theft is down 25.7%, and arson is down 30.8%.

Motor vehicle theft has gone up 4% in the first six months of 2023. ​

“Two types of vehicles, Kia and Hyundai, have seen a drastic increase in theft in 2023, while all other vehicle makes have seen a decrease,” officials said in the release.

“This increase is, in part, believed to be associated with a social media trend involving the theft of Kia and Hyundai vehicles. Had the number of Kia and Hyundai thefts remained the same as 2022, overall auto thefts would have decreased by 24%.”

Another possibility, police said, is that those looking to steal automobiles chose Kia and Hyundai makes over other vehicles, accounting for the decrease in other makes being stolen.

Year-to-date, police said there have been 21 officer-involved shootings.  Of the 21 shootings this year, 16 of the suspects were armed with a firearm or replica firearm. Twelve of those suspects were prohibited possessors.

“A key component of the Crime Reduction Plan released in June is to focus on those who illegally carry firearms,” Sullivan said.

“It is clear from what we've seen so far this year that prohibited possessors pose a danger to our community given the fact that they are not only willing to illegally possess weapons but use them against police officers."

For more on the Crime Reduction Plan: https://www.phoenix.gov/policesite/Documents/Crime_Reduction_Plan.pdf