
(PatriotsUnited.org) – Marking a major change relative to recent years, fresh FBI statistics show a dip in violent crime rates. The bureau’s quarterly report concluded that there had been a 5 percent drop in violent offenses across the initial quarter of 2024 compared to the start of 2023. Specifically, this included a commendable 26 percent fall in murders along with an 18 percent drop in robberies.
The FBI did not release detailed figures but simply percentages. This decision was made as a mere 72 percent of law enforcement agencies have submitted their crime data. More comprehensive figures will follow once 80 percent of agencies participate. Crime data expert Jeff Asher told press that the data was indeed significant, despite it being preliminary. He explained that around 90 days of unaudited data could be considered often accurate, if imprecise, emphasizing that the overall trend indicates a very large fall in murder and sizable falls in violent and property crime.
Still, context is important. Overall 2020 saw a 30 percent uptick in murders. Murder rates also climbed in 2021, seeing just a small downturn in 2022. Last year there was an 8 to 12 percent fall in murders according to various data sets, with 2024 expected to herald a third consecutive year of falling murder rates, possibly equal to or under 2019 rates.
Naturally, President Biden has attempted to use these latest figures for political gain, claiming that they represent how the administration had improved Americans’ safety. He explained how the federal government had been working to get more police officers on patrol in order to ensure more violent criminals are “accountable”, and reduce the presence of illegal guns on the streets.
Meanwhile, Trump decidedly dismissed the FBI’s data, telling Time magazine in April that the FBI and others had “fudged” the statistics, suggesting that there was zero chance crime had declined since 2023. Trump attributed crime to migrant crime without offering evidence and suggested the FBI’s figures were misleading. Wider figures are important to keep in mind, with some 18,000 to 19,000 people falling victim to murder across the U.S. every year.
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