Murder and other violent crime rates declined in the United States last year, new FBI data shows

Crime rates, particularly violent crime, declined in the United States last year, according to statistics recently released by the FBI.

The results, based on data reported in 2023, showed that murders and non-negligent manslaughter fell 11.6% from the previous year, marking the largest decline in two decades. It is also nearly double the decline from 2021 to 2022, which was 6.1%.

Rapes also declined significantly, down an estimated 9.4 percent, and aggravated assaults declined 2.8 percent last year. Robberies also declined nationwide by 0.3 percent, the FBI said.

Overall, violent crime nationwide decreased by 3% between 2022 and 2023, and property crime rates fell by 2.4%, according to the annual report.

A 7.6 per cent drop in burglaries and a 4.4 per cent drop in thefts contributed to the decrease in property crime. However, there was also a 12.6 per cent increase in motor vehicle thefts, the highest rate since 2007. This follows last year’s report, which recorded the largest year-over-year increase for this category.

More than 16,000 law enforcement agencies covering 94.3 percent of the country’s population — including departments in major cities like New York and Los Angeles — submitted data for the report.

RELATED STORY | Immigrants Don’t Commit More Crimes, But Some Politicians Continue to Pretend They Do

The announcement comes as the United States is just weeks away from its presidential election, in which both major party candidates have made crime policy a key part of their campaigns.

On one hand, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris has drawn on her former role as attorney general to prove she has taken on crime and criminals, comparing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to another criminal she will take down.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump claims crime rates have “skyrocketed” under Biden and Vice President Harris and has called the FBI “fraudulent claims” in cases where its data shows otherwise.

Trump has not issued a statement in response to the FBI report, but Harris has again pointed to her former roles as a prosecutor while in office. She has also cited the spike in violent crime rates that occurred before she and the president took office in 2020 as evidence that the work they did “immediately” then led to the current decline in rates and that the “great progress” won’t stop.

RELATED STORY | Americans fear crime despite downward trend

“Americans are safer today than when we took office,” his statement read. “Our progress continues this year and builds on the substantial declines we saw in previous years of our administration… I am committed to continuing our work supporting local law enforcement, investing in proven crime prevention and community violence response measures, and combating gun violence with common-sense gun safety laws.”

President Biden also cited his and Harris’ efforts in 2020 as reasons for the decline, particularly the American Rescue Plan’s investment in public safety and executive actions on guns.

“None of this happened by accident,” the president said before listing his administration’s accomplishments. “We won’t stop now. The only way to continue this progress is to invest in what works. That’s why I will continue to urge Congress to fund 100,000 more police officers and a strong ATF, invest in community violence intervention programs, and enact commonsense gun safety reforms, including an assault weapons ban.”