Homicide rate is the number of reported homicides in a city. Threats to a person’s life have major consequences on one's mental, emotional, and social health. This fear can prevent people from participating in the community, exercising, and leaving the house for any reason. Decreasing homicides is a major policy goal of many leaders at all levels of government, but murder is a complicated problem that existed before the concept of civilization. There is much rich research on homicide prevention which shows successful attempts to reduce the homicide rate will need to be multifaceted as there are economic and environmental drivers of homicide as well as political and societal barriers that impact prosecution.