SALT LAKE CITY -- A disturbing statistic from 2016 turns out not to be a trend.
Murders are down so far in America's big cities in 2017, by 5.6 percent. That follows a 13 percent uptick in the number of murders in 2016.
The numbers come from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. They analyze crime statistics in America's 30 biggest cities.
Among the findings: New York City is among the safest big cities in the country, averaging 3.3 murders per 100,000 residents.
The worst city, Baltimore, had 57 murders per 100,000 residents.
While the Salt Lake Metropolitan area is among America's bigger cities, Salt Lake City itself is not on the list of the 30 biggest in America analyzed in the report.
Salt Lake City Police report eight murders in 2017 so far, which is down from 14 in 2016. That's an average of 4.5 murders per 100,000 residents.
