New York.- The number of reported homicides in the United States fell at the fastest pace on record in 2023, continuing a decline after a surge in crime during the pandemic, the FBI reported Monday.
The FBI report, which is the agency’s latest compilation of crime data for 2023, showed there were 2,500 fewer homicides in 2023 than in 2022, a decrease of 11.6 percent.
That was the biggest year-over-year drop since national record-keeping began in 1960, according to Jeff Asher, a crime data analyst based in New Orleans.
Overall, violent crime fell 3 percent, property crime decreased 2.6 percent in 2023, robbery fell 7.6 percent, and grand larceny decreased 4.4 percent.
Car theft remains an exception, increasing by more than 12 percent compared to the previous year.
The latest data is consistent with earlier preliminary FBI reports and research by other organizations and criminologists, all of which show a continued decline in most crimes, including homicide.
Still, crime remains a point of contention in the presidential race, with the Republican nominee, former President Donald J. Trump, describing American cities as squalid and crime-ridden.
Polls show that Americans remain concerned about crime and that there is a consistent gap between crime reporting and public perception of the problem.
For example, a Gallup poll last year found that 77 percent of Americans believed crime was increasing, even when it was decreasing.
“The perception of safety is not driven by numbers but by what people see, hear and feel on the streets, on television and on their social media. They don’t take the time to study the FBI website,” said Adam Gelb, CEO of the Criminal Justice Council, a nonprofit group that produces its own reports on U.S. crime.
Criminologists attribute the decline in violent crime to a number of factors, all related to the country’s successful emergence from the pandemic: more social services have been reestablished, investments have been made in violence prevention initiatives, social ties have been normalized, and there is more proactive policing.
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