There were 29 homicides in the City of Syracuse in 2021, which is unchanged from the previous 2020 year. Three additional cases were removed from last year’s total because they were considered justifiable deaths, as individuals were acting in self-defense. Sergeant Matthew Malinowski reflects on the demographics of the victims: A baby just shy of reaching her first birthday, A 93-year-old retired teacher.
“A lot of kind of historic numbers when it came to some of the victim's ages and some of the terrible tragedies that occurred,” Sergeant Matthew Malinowski said. “One homicide is obviously enough, and we know that this is a part of a nationwide trend where seeing an increase in violent crimes.”
Homicide cases do not usually involve random acts against citizens. Malinowski said they are usually in connection to gang activity, ranging from territorial disputes to drugs and money. City police continue to urge the public to be aware of criminal activity in their neighborhoods, and they suggest providing tips to police to prevent the next tragedy.
“We’ve seen different incidents where people have been firing guns and their vehicles have been struck or their residents so it is really important to know that we really all need to make this a priority to try to reduce these crimes and that was having that corporation from the community is so huge so when officers do come up to the house or the neighborhood,” Malinowski added. “Any information that is known that can help assist of getting up that information is hugely important.”
In areas of the city with high rates of crime, Malinowski said investigators are not receiving high amounts of public cooperation. But the department continues to build relationships in those respective communities.
Fortunately, close to 70% of last year’s homicide cases in the city have been solved by Syracuse Police. The number of solved cases ranks above the national average and is also despite other challenges the department is facing like historically low staffing levels and the pandemic.