FBI: Murders Down 26.4% as U.S. Violent Crime Rates Plummet in 2024
According to the CNN, violent crime in the U.S. dropped by more than 15% in the first three months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Murders fell by 26.4% rapes by 25.7% aggravated assaults by 12.5% and robberies by 17.8%. Property crimes also went down by 15.1% with fewer burglaries and car thefts. These decreases were seen all over the country. Attorney General Merrick Garland said this means fewer Americans are being hurt or killed and more lives are being saved.
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US murder rate plunges
New FBI figures show that the US murder rate is dropping quickly matching what some crime experts predicted. AH Datalytics is a firm that analyzes crime data reports that murders have fallen by more than 40% in the first five months of 2024 in cities like New Orleans, Seattle, Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia compared to the same time in 2023. With six months left in the year Jeff Asher a criminal justice analyst and co-founder of AH Datalytics believes this could be the biggest one-year drop in murders in US history. So far a review of 265 cities shows a 19% drop in murders nationwide compared to last year.
Data limitations
The FBI’s Quarterly Uniform Crime Report shows big drops in crime but there are important limitations. The data comes from police agencies that share their numbers voluntarily. Crime experts say the quarterly data can be imprecise because agencies have the rest of the year to fix any errors before the final yearly report. Jeff Asher a crime analyst said other data sources show the same trends but the FBI’s method might make the declines seem bigger than they really are.
Interrupting cycles of violence
The US murder rate has been dropping since 2020 after the Covid-19 pandemic caused a big increase in homicides. FBI data shows that homicides went up nearly 30% from 2019 to 2020 the largest one-year jump since the 1960s. Violent crime also rose by 5% during this time. Experts say the 2020 surge was due to disruptions like school and business closures more stress, more guns, less policing and fewer community services. Jeff Asher a crime analyst said that tools to stop violence which weren’t available during the pandemic are now helping to bring murder rates back down to pre-pandemic levels.