ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Police Department announced Friday that the city recorded 10 homicides in 2025 — the lowest number since OPD began tracking homicide data in 1971.

The city also saw the biggest drop in homicides in any major city in the country, according to a new report by a national police chiefs association.

“Our mission is simple: prevent crime, protect people, and keep our neighborhoods safe,” Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said in a Friday news release. “That means officers being visible, taking action, and building trust in the community. These numbers show that approach is working.”

Over the most recent three-year period, from 2023 to 2025, Orlando recorded a 22% decrease in all crime, including a 68% decrease in homicides, a 41% decrease in shootings, a 12% decrease in violent crime, a 42% decrease in burglaries and a 47% decrease in motor vehicle thefts, according to OPD.

The announcement followed the release of a new report saying Orlando’s homicide rate saw a one-year drop of 58% from 2024 to 2025, a greater margin than in 66 other major cities and counties. OPD said its own data was consistent with the trends shown in the report.

“Orlando’s progress stands out as an example of how focused strategies and accountability produce real results,” OPD said. Some of those strategies included proactive patrols, removing illegal guns from the streets and direct engagement with residents.

The national report was released last week by the Major Cities Chiefs Association, made up of police chiefs from the largest cities in the United States and Canada. It compares the change in annual violent crime totals from 2025 versus 2024 using preliminary data reported by police agencies.

The report divides violent crime into four categories: homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

An analysis of the data by the Orlando Sentinel found Orlando ranked No. 1 out of the 67 U.S. cities or counties when it came to how far its homicide rate had fallen. Homicides dropped from 24 in 2024 to 10 in 2025, while Tampa placed second with a 53% drop and Denver was third with 47%.

While Orlando remained in the top 10 when it came to reducing aggravated assault and the top 20 with reducing robbery, it barely made a decrease in its rate of sexual assault.

Orlando ranked No. 8 in aggravated assault with a 19% drop, going from 1,475 aggravated assaults in 2024 down to 1,200 in 2025; No. 15 in robbery with a 25% drop, going from 397 robberies down to 299; and No. 42 in rape with a 0.05% drop, going from 188 to 178, the analysis found.

The only other Florida cities included in the report were Tampa and Miami. Orlando ranked ahead of both cities when it came to reductions in homicide and robbery, but fell behind both in reducing sexual assault. It was also behind Miami but ahead of Tampa in reducing aggravated assault.

The report’s release was celebrated by the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, an Orlando-based organization seeking to support people with criminal convictions as they reenter society.

In November 2022, the group launched Peace Orlando, a community violence intervention program funded by the city. Members provide intensive mentoring, conflict mediation, case management, and connections to job training and mental health services to people at the highest risk of being involved in gun violence.

Desmond Meade, the group’s executive director, touted the program’s success Friday morning using Orlando crime data from November 2022 through October 2025.

The group found a 88% reduction in gun homicides over the three years and a 71% reduction in injury-related shootings over the same period. There were only five gun homicides in the program’s third year, which it says is the lowest 12-month total on record, and there were 135 fewer people killed or injured by firearms in the program’s third year than the year before the program’s launch.

“When you can get community-based organizations…who are more closer to the pain, we can see great results,” Meade said. “They’re not just numbers, they’re people’s lives. There are so many less people who are getting killed on the streets in the City of Orlando.”

However, Dr. Jacinta Gau, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Central Florida, said Orlando’s drop in crime may be part of an overall nationwide decline over the last few years, rather than due to any specific local efforts.

“The reports suggest we are seeing sustained reductions in most types of crime, especially serious violent crimes,” Gau said. “The trend looks national, complicating efforts to identify causes. Every city has a unique approach to crime prevention.”

While Orlando’s drop appears especially noteworthy, she said, “there is no empirical way to discern whether it can be credited to any specific program underway in the city or whether it is part of the national trend and just happened by chance to be sharper in Orlando.”

Dr. Peter Moskos, a professor at the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former Baltimore police officer, said to always be skeptical of crime data.

For example, Moskos said the national report’s homicide numbers for New York City doesn’t match his own.

Nevertheless, he still said the fact Orlando reduced homicides to just 10 last year is “impressive.”

“I have murder data for Orlando going back to 2005 and it’s rarely been below 20,” he said.

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