DETROIT, MI (AP)-- Detroit police say the number of killings in the city has dropped to what seems to be the lowest level in nearly half a century.
The Detroit News says a preliminary count Thursday shows there were 304 criminal homicides in Detroit in 2014, down from 333 in 2013.
The 2014 total is the lowest since 281 people were killed in 1967. The next-lowest homicide total in that span was 308 in 2010.
The newspaper says the number of homicides per 100,000 fell for the third straight year to 47.5 in 2014. The rate was 55 per 100,000 in 2012.
Police Chief James Craig calls the lower killing numbers "good news" but says the city has "still got work to do."