Homicides on the decline in Muncie and Delaware County

Consider this: Indianapolis has recorded about 80 homicides since Jan. 1.

Delaware County, meanwhile, has seen 55 homicides since Jan. 1 — make that Jan. 1, 2000. In 2015, three homicides have been reported in the county.

Marion County has more than eight times as many citizens as Delaware County, so it can be expected to have significantly more slayings.

However, Marion County’s 80-3 lead in 2015 homicides reflects a ratio approaching 27 to 1.

Local authorities believe they can account for the decline in killings since violence — some of it fueled by crack cocaine — routinely claimed 10 or more lives yearly in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

By comparison, since the turn of the century, only four years have seen more than three homicides in Delaware County.