After the pandemic brought historic spikes in murders, the U.S. is poised to finish the year with a historic drop in homicides and drops in other crime categories, a finding that conflicts with public perceptions that crime is on the rise, according to a recent analysis of criminal justice data.
CHICAGO, IL - MAY 27: Crime scene tape is stretched around the front of a home where a man was shot ... [+] on May 28, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois.
The findings come as a recent Gallup poll shows that more than 77% of Americans believe that there is more crime than there was a year ago.
Still, the precise factors are complicated and difficult to pinpoint, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
“The quarterly data shows violent crime down in big cities, small cities, suburban counties, and rural counties, pretty much across the board,” Asher wrote on Substack, citing the FBI data.
“The decline in crime shown in the quarterly data — if realized — would be historically large.”.
While the murder rate is down, mass shootings are up, with 2023 the second-worst year for mass shootings on record, according to the Gun Violence Archive. »
