Poli Alert Politics & Civics
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Jimmy Williams
The FBI’s newly released crime statistics reveal a significant decrease in violent crime across the United States last year, including a dramatic 12% drop in murders—the largest decline in decades. The data also show a 9% reduction in reported rapes and a slight decrease in hate crimes, which dropped less than 1%.
Overall, violent crime decreased by an estimated 3% between 2022 and 2023, and property crime saw a 2.4% reduction, according to the FBI. The figures are based on reports from more than 16,300 law enforcement agencies across the country, including major police departments such as those in New York and Los Angeles.
Crime has emerged as a major political issue as the 2024 presidential election approaches. Republican nominee Donald Trump has sought to make rising crime rates a central theme of his campaign, accusing his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, of being weak on crime. Harris, a former California attorney general, has pushed back against those claims, highlighting her prosecutorial experience and pointing to the pending criminal cases Trump faces.
Despite the overall reduction in violent crime, certain offenses did increase last year. Vehicle thefts, in particular, rose nearly 13%, according to the report.
While the FBI’s data shows a positive trend in crime reduction, officials caution that the numbers have limitations. Not all communities submitted data, and some of the submitted data contained errors, making it difficult to capture the full extent of the declines accurately.
A senior FBI official, in a call with reporters Monday, declined to comment on the claims made by both Trump and Harris on the campaign trail but defended the agency’s methodology, saying it “has been consistent for decades.”
Crime remains a focal point in both campaigns. Harris, who has faced criticism from the left for being too tough on crime during her tenure as attorney general, has also been questioned for her past support of the “defund the police” movement. She has since distanced herself from that stance, emphasizing her support for law enforcement reform.
Trump, meanwhile, continues to advocate for aggressive policing tactics. At a recent campaign event, he reiterated his backing of controversial “stop and frisk” policies and called for federal legislation that would make it more difficult to sue police officers for misconduct.
With crime rates falling overall but still a contentious issue, the topic is likely to remain at the center of the 2024 presidential race.
