By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Sr Natl Correspondent

The latest FBI data on Monday, September 23, 2024, revealed a significant drop in national crime rates from 2022 to 2023, contradicting widespread public perception of a crime wave. According to the FBI’s annual “Summary of Crime in the Nation,” violent crime fell by 3%, while property crime decreased by 2.4%.

The most severe offenses saw particularly dramatic declines: murder and non-negligent manslaughter dropped by 11.6%, marking the most significant single-year decrease in two decades. Rape also declined by 9.4%. These decreases represent a clear shift as the U.S. continues to recover from the instability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had previously exacerbated certain criminal activities.

Property crime followed similar trends, with burglary down by 7.6%. However, motor vehicle theft surged by 12.6%, while shoplifting incidents spiked from 999,394 in 2022 to over 1.1 million in 2023 — a return to pre-pandemic levels. Experts suggest that these upticks may reflect the reopening of businesses and the return to more typical consumer behavior following the pandemic’s restrictions and security measures.

While the nation as a whole is experiencing a steady decline in violent crime, the gap between reality and public perception persists. Social media, doorbell cameras, and neighborhood apps have all contributed to increased awareness, which has increased the visibility of individual incidents and created an exaggerated sense of widespread danger.

Despite this, FBI data shows a consistent downward trend, with the violent crime rate falling from 377.1 per 100,000 people in 2022 to 363.8 per 100,000 people in 2023. The data also refutes claims by former President Donald Trump, who in a recent debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, dismissed the FBI’s numbers as fraudulent and painted a picture of a nation gripped by chaos. Trump claimed that major cities were excluded from the FBI’s data, but the bureau clarified that it accounted for reporting gaps in its estimates and included data from every city with a population exceeding one million.

The FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) gathered data from over 700 additional agencies in 2023 compared to 2022, covering more than 315 million people—94.3% of the U.S. population.

President Joe Biden responded to the FBI report by highlighting the success of his administration’s efforts to combat crime and bolster public safety. In a statement, Biden noted, “Americans are safer today than when we took office. None of this happened by accident. Vice President Harris and I made historic investments in public safety, and the results are clear.”

Biden emphasized the role of the American Rescue Plan, which provided over $15 billion to help state and local governments fund critical public safety measures, including preventing cuts to police budgets and supporting violence intervention programs. “We’ve taken decisive action to stop the illegal flow of guns and strengthen community policing. As the numbers show, we’re making progress in keeping our communities safe,” Biden added.