Omaha Has 32 Homicides in 2021
The number of homicides reported in Omaha declined to 32 in 2021, but that remained higher than the four years before killings spiked in 2020.
Omaha police said the number of homicides in Nebraska’s largest city declined about 14% from 2020’s 37. Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said his department’s goal is to return to the 14-year lows of 2018 and 2019 when 22 and 23 homicides were reported respectively.
And the fact that 10 of last year’s homicide victims were teens is a concern.
“Even though our homicide numbers have gone down ... we do have to take caution with the number of juveniles that have been murdered in our city,” Schmaderer said to the Omaha World-Herald. “We’re seeing more guns in the hands of our juveniles and, likely consequently, we’re seeing a rise in the number of homicides with our juveniles.”
Police Capt. Steve Cerveny, who oversees the Omaha Police Department’s criminal investigations section, said the level of gang activity in the city is also worrisome.
“We’re concerned because we’re seeing a little bit more gang-related activity with violence, and a lot of it centers around retaliation,” he said.
Police have maintained a homicide clearance rate over 70% since 2013, and last year that rate topped 81% including arrests made in 2021 related to two homicides from 2020.
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