Murder by Numbers: Homicide in 2012
Thursday's Daily News takes an in-depth look, victim by victim, at more than 300 murders on the streets of Philadelphia this year. Here, a demographic and statistical breakdown of who the murder victims were, how they died, and how the numbers shape up compared with those of previous years:
Murder by Numbers: Homicide in 2012
Thursday's Daily News takes an in-depth look, victim by victim, at more than 300 murders on the streets of Philadelphia this year. Here, a demographic and statistical breakdown of who the murder victims were, how and where they died, and how the numbers shape up compared with those of previous years:
Note: Statistics are based on official homicide count reported by the Philadelphia Police Department as of Dec. 18.
- Of 324 people murdered in Philadelphia through Dec. 18, 40 of the victims, or 12 percent, were women.
- 23 murder victims -- 7 percent -- were younger than 18. Seven of those victims were younger than 10, and five of those victims were just 1 year old when they were killed.
- 84 percent of murder victims in 2012 were shot to death. 8 percent were stabbed to death.
- Of juveniles aged 13 through 17 killed in 2012, all were boys and all were shot to death.
- The youngest victim of a fatal shooting in 2012 was 13 years old. The oldest was 80.
- The average age of a murder victim in 2012 is 31; the average age of women murdered this year is 35; the average age of men murdered is 30.
- 75 percent of women killed in 2012 were shot to death; 86 percent of men killed were shot to death.
- For each woman shot to death in 2012, there were eight men shot to death.
- Through mid-December, there was, on average, one person murdered every 26 hours and 9 minutes in Philadelphia.
- Through mid-December, homicide victims were up 2 percent from last year, up 11 percent from 2010, up 11 percent from 2009, up 1 percent from 2008, and down 15 percent from 2007.
Most violent police districts:
Through Dec. 18, the police districts with the most homicides were:
1) North Philadelphia's 22nd District, headquartered at 17th Street and Montgomery Avenue: 36 homicides
2) Northwest Philadelphia's 35th District, headquartered at Broad Street and Champlost Avenue: 29 homicides
3) Southwest Philadelphia’s 12th District, headquartered at 65th Street and Woodland Avenue and North Philadelphia’s 25th District, headquartered on Whitaker Avenue near Erie: 28 homicides each
The districts with the fewest homicides were:
1) Northeast Philadelphia’s 7th District, headquartered at Bustleton Avenue and Bowler Street: 0 homicides
2) Northwest Philadelphia’s 5th District, headquartered at Ridge Avenue and Cinnaminson Street: 1 homicide
3) Center City’s 9th District, headquartered at 21st and Hamilton streets: 3 homicides
Read an interview with Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey about this year's murder toll here.
