This year’s homicide rate tied an 18-year record.

Data released by the Tuscaloosa Police Department and the FBI show that we have had 16 homicides so far this year. That number matches the total for the entire year, set in 2006.

We had a total of 11 homicides in the last year.

In his State of the Community address last week, Mayor Walt Maddox said crime rates were down in the city.

This week, he released a statement praising the Tuscaloosa Police Department for making our community safer in light of population growth over the past two decades.