evidence: Homicides declined by 21 percent from 2022 to 2023, according to preliminary crime data from the Milwaukee Police Department. In 2023, there were 169 homicides in Milwaukee, 46 fewer than in 2022. [...] According to data from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, there were 97 homicides in Milwaukee five years ago. In 2022, the Milwaukee Police Department investigated 214 homicides — a 120 percent increase over three years. But the city wasn’t alone in dealing with a spike in violent deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. The homicide rate across the nation increased 30 percent between 2019 and 2020, according to a report from the Pew Research Center. According to a national study last year, Milwaukee had the fifth-highest homicide rate increase in the country since 2020.