Are Portland’s stubbornly high homicide numbers a new normal?

It’s undeniably good news that deadly violence in Portland continued to tick downward last year. The city recorded 71 homicides in 2024. That’s six fewer than the year prior and a 30% drop from the record-shattering 101 killings Oregon’s most populous city saw in 2022. Reported shootings, meanwhile, fell below 1,000 for the first time since 2020. Despite these positive trends, annual Portland homicides are still more than double what they were pre-pandemic. And other large, more populous west coast cities like Seattle and San Francisco continue to see far fewer killings than here. So what gives? On The latest Beat Check, Oregonian/OregonLive reporters Shane Dixon Kavanaugh and Zaeem Shaikh discuss Portland’s stubbornly high homicide numbers — and why there are signs of continued of improvement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices