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DAYTON — The number of homicides in the city this year has already equaled the number of slayings recorded for all of 2007.

There were 29 homicides as of Thursday, Sept. 4, Dayton police Detective Cayce Cantrel said. That's about one more homicide per month than the city recorded during the same period last year. There were 43 homicides in 2006 and 34 in 2005.

The record number of homicides in Dayton occurred in 1973 when 105 people died at the hands of others.

The figures do not include people killed by police. Three people have been fatally shot by Dayton police this year.

Lary Labensky and Derrick J. Jordan were killed by police during separate incidents in May. Ricky Moore was shot and killed by former Officer Jack Brooks in July.

The officers involved the May shootings — Christopher Cornwell and David House — have since returned to work while Brooks was fired. A grand jury has yet to hear results of the investigations of all three shootings.

Police did not offer specific reasons for the increase in homicides this year, but Dayton police Chief Richard Biehl said last month he's concerned about the rise in slayings and an increase in cases of residents not complying with police.

Dayton police data, from January to June 30, shows 364 people have been arrested for assaulting police officers, resisting arrest or failure to comply with a police order. That number is projected to grow to 728 individuals by year's end, with each of Dayton's 412 sworn officers being involved in those kinds of incidents 1.8 times.

The concentration of gun crimes in the city's Fifth District also is a concern, Biehl said.

Nearly half the homicide investigations this year remain open, according to Dayton police, including the death of 18-year-old Heather Walker, who was found dead in an east side trash can in April.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2494 or lsullivan@DaytonDailyNews.com