Detroit bullet crime scene.JPG

(MLive.com File Photo)

DETROIT, MI -- Detroit police statistics indicate the city is on pace to hit a several-decade-low homicide total by the time revelers welcome 2015.

As of Dec. 7, the Detroit police had recorded 281 homicides, a pace of about .82 per day, which projects out to about 300 by year's end.

Detroit police have not released a final 2014 tally, but George Hunter of the Detroit News reported that the city had recorded 298 homicides as of Dec. 23, a 6 percent decline from 318 last year.

If that pace continued through the final week of 2014, Detroit would record its lowest homicide count since there were 281 in 1967, the year of the race riots, and fewer than the second lowest total since, 308 in 2010, The Detroit News reports.

As of Dec. 7, Detroit police were reporting a 7 percent drop in all violent crime -- including an 8 percent decline in sexual assaults, a 23 percent decline in robberies and a 3 percent drop in aggravated assaults.

And the property crime stats as of the last published crime data report on the city website were looking even better, reflecting a 17 percent overall decline

Burglaries, -20 percent

Larceny, -20 percent

Auto theft, -18 percent

Despite the progress Detroit is making in the crime realm, there is no question the city remains a dangerous place.

Based on the most recent FBI crime stats reported for most major cities across the U.S. in 2013, Detroit had the highest murder and violent crime rate in the nation.

If you live in or visit the city often, what are your feelings on crime trends? What is the Detroit Police Department doing right, what does it need to do more of and, most importantly, do you feel safer?