Turner on decrease in Houston homicide rate: 'I commend HPD for the work it is doing'

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Houston Police Department said the city has experienced a drop in its homicide rate for the first time in more than a year, according to a press release issued by the mayor's office.

Houston tentatively tallied 187 homicides through the first five months of this year, five less than the figure logged at this same time last year, the release said.

Officials attributed the decline to the One Safe Houston initiative, which Turner and the city launched earlier this year to address rising violent crime.

“I commend HPD for the work it is doing,” the mayor said, per the release. “We have put more officers on the streets through overtime and cadet classes. There is still too much gun violence in our city and too many guns in the hands of dangerous and violent individuals, but our work and that of the Houston Police Department is making a difference.”

Police showed declines in all four major violent crime categories, according to the release.

"Thank you to our citizens for your continued support," HPD Executive Chief Assistant Matt Slinkard said in the release. “To the hardworking men and women of HPD and our fellow law enforcement officers in this region, thank you for doing what you are doing. Collectively, we are making a difference."

Turner insisted that the decrease isn't to indicate that the job is done, per Houston NBC affiliate KPRC.

“I’m not here at all to say it’s a mission accomplished," the mayor said, KPRC reported. "I’m not here to say that. What I am here to say is that with this initiative, it is working, it is effective, it’s having an impact.”

The mayor's office said One Safe Houston is funded by $50 million from the American Rescue Plan (ARP).