Erie Mayor Joe Schember and Police Chief Dan Spizarny announced Thursday that the City of Erie has experienced notable declines in violent crime during the first six months of 2025, continuing a broader trend of reduced crime rates over the past decade.

So far in 2025, only five people have been shot in Erie, down from eight in 2024, 27 in 2023, and 29 in 2022. The number of confirmed shots fired also plummeted to 31, compared to 49 last year, 76 in 2023, and 145 in 2022. Annual statistics from 2014 to 2024 show a steep drop as well: total people shot dropped from 72 in 2014 to 18 in 2024, and confirmed shots fired fell from 379 to 104 over the same period.

Technology like ShotSpotter has played a key role in these reductions. From January 2024 through July 2025, the system helped drive a 24% drop in shooting incidents and a 30% decrease in the number of rounds fired. ShotSpotter also aided in locating five shooting victims and making six arrests.

Firearm related trends also showed improvement. While 25 firearms were reported stolen in the first half of 2025, unchanged from the previous year, recoveries have remained strong, with 96 guns recovered so far in 2025.

The city has recorded two homicides to date this year, in line with first-half averages from recent years. Notably, Erie’s average annual homicide rate has held steady at around 10.5 over the last decade, with the exception of 2023, which saw 14.

Aggravated assaults continue to decline as well. Although cases have remained steady this year (45 in 2025 vs. 43 in 2024), they are down from 83 during the same period in 2023. Yearly totals reflect a consistent downward trend, from 242 in 2014 to just 92 in 2024.

Other categories show similar stability or decline:

   •Assaults (first half): 216 in 2025, up slightly from 212 in 2024

   •Robberies (first half): 41 in both 2025 and 2024

   •Yearly robbery totals dropped from 259 in 2014 to 84 in 2024

   •Burglaries (yearly): down from 803 in 2014 to 267 in 2024

While some fluctuations remain in sex offense and rape reports, city officials emphasized that overall, Erie’s violent crime landscape continues to improve.

Mayor Schember credited this progress to a combination of enforcement, prevention, and major investments in public safety infrastructure. Since 2018, the city and Erie Police Department have implemented a dozen initiatives, including:

   •Reinstating the Crisis Car and Juvenile Unit

   •Expanding community policing and bicycle patrols

   •Restoring the K-9 unit

   •Equipping officers with body worn cameras and license plate readers

   •Deploying ShotSpotter technology

   •Launching Crisis Team Co-Responders

   •Securing regional SWAT and Bomb Squad vehicles

   •Strengthening Police Athletic League (PAL) programs, which now reach over 1,700 students

   •Purchasing the former Koehler Brewery building as the site of a future public safety complex

   •Increasing the police force to 194 officers

“The numbers are clear: our strategy is working,” said Chief Spizarny. “These results show the impact of collaboration, technology, and proactive policing.”