Mid-Year Update Reveals Crime Drop

By Thomas Breen, New Haven Independent

NEW HAVEN, CT — New Haven has seen two homicides and nine nonfatal shootings so far this year — compared to seven homicides and 16 nonfatal shootings at this time last year.

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“We are not celebrating,” Mayor Justin Elicker stressed at a Wednesday morning press conference at police headquarters. “We are very clear that we have more work to do.”

But that said — that’s a significant drop, reflecting what Police Chief David Zannelli described as “some of the lowest levels” of crime New Haven has seen in decades.

Elicker and Zannelli provided those remarks during a press conference focused on a mid-year update on crime stats.

So far, the numbers are trending down. As was the case with crime overall last year. As is the case with homicides nationwide. (Meanwhile, that trend has not held true for every other city in Connecticut. Hartford, for example, has seen 13 homicides so far this year.)

Click here to read New Haven’s latest CompStat report.

Through the week ending July 6, New Haven has seen so far this year:

• Two homicides — that of 18-year-old Malaki Caraballo and 21-year-old Jayden Martinez, who were killed in the same shooting at the Fort Hale Gardens condo complex on Woodward Avenue on June 22. Zannelli said police have not made any arrests in that double homicide yet, through they are making “notable progress,” with evidence currently being processed at the state lab. By this same time in 2025, New Haven had seen seven homicides. There had also been seven homicides by this point in 2024. And there had been 12 homicides by this point in 2023.
• Nine nonfatal shootings, seven of which so far have resulted in arrest warrants, according to Zannelli. By this time last year, there had been 16 nonfatal shootings. The year before: 32. The year before that: 35.
• 42 confirmed gunshots fired. That compares to 48 by this time in 2025, 87 by this time in 2024, and 146 by this time in 2023. Elicker and Zannelli stressed that the city has expanded its gunshot-detecting ShotSpotter program in recent years. So, even as the city is able to find out about more gunshots now, New Haven is still seeing a drop in shots fired.

Overall, Elicker said that there have been 3,363 crime “incidents” so far this year, compared to 4,063 by this time last year, representing a 9.8 percent drop.

Burglaries are also down (130 so far this year compared to 142 at this time last year.) As are motor vehicle thefts (190 this year compared to 357 at this time last year.)

Reported rape cases, meanwhile, are up, from 5 at this time last year to 19 so far this year. Sgt. Cherelle Carr, who leads the police department’s Special Victims Unit (SVU), said that this increase is likely as much an indication of victims feeling more comfortable coming forward to report rapes as it is of more rapes taking place.

So. Why the drop in crime so far?

Zannelli described a “synergistic approach” that seems to be working well.

The police department has a lot more cameras and license plate readers and other technology available to it that helps with solving all manner of crimes more quickly.

The recent police union contract has led to more successful recruiting an increase in the number of officers on the force.

The police department has focused on bringing back more walking beats and biking beats, increasing the visibility and accessibility of officers in the neighborhoods.

The department has stepped up its work with local clergy, including Pastor John Lewis, who was present at Wednesday’s presser. Same goes for police partnerships with the city’s Youth and Recreation Department (YARD) and local violence interrupters like CT VIP.

The department is also working closely with federal partners in the FBI and ATF, most recently on a long-term investigation of a local gang called Stand On Business. That investigation led to indictments of 16 individuals on various violent charges, including two murders.

Plus, Zannelli said, “there has been an increase in cooperation from our community.”

“There’s a lot of time left in the year and a lot more work to be done,” he added.

Elicker agreed. “I want to emphasize we have a lot more work to do,” he repeated. “No life lost is acceptable” — even as the city makes progress in reducing crime.

The New Haven Independent is a not-for-profit public-interest daily news site founded in 2005.