A slight improvement

The homicide rate in D.C. went down 6% for the year, which is not exaclty great news (246 murders is still a lot), but better than an increase. According to CNN Chicago is U.S. murder capital, but that is based on total murders, not as compared to percent of population. The Post reports that D.C. still has more killings per capita than any city over 500,000.

Homicide Count as of December 31, 2003:
2003: 246
2002: 262
Percent Change: -6.1%

Source:Metropolitan Police Department - Crime Statistics