New FBI statistics show a continued decline in US crime in the first six months of 2024

Crime in the United States fell in the first six months of 2024, according to preliminary figures released by the FBI on Monday. This continues the trend of falling crime rates that the FBI recently identified for 2023. The new figures show that murders fell by 23% from January to June. Compared to the same period in 2023, violent crimes fell by 10% and reported rapes fell by 18%. According to the data, aggravated assaults fell 8% year-over-year during the period, while robberies fell 14% and reported property crimes fell 13%. Monday’s release is sure to be closely watched by the campaigns of former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris, as crime was a major political issue in the 2024 presidential election. Trump has made crime — particularly violent crimes committed by undocumented immigrants — a focus of his campaign and often highlights specific attacks on Americans. Signs at Trump’s event in Wisconsin on Saturday included images of non-citizens arrested for alleged violent crimes. Two monitors displayed the slogan: “Stop the invasion of small-town America.” Another in a rotating slide series showed an image of migrants in a crowded classroom with the message: “Open borders = full classrooms.” “Hundreds of people were murdered because of their actions at the border, and thousands more will quickly follow.” Consequence. “She should be charged and prosecuted for her actions,” the former president said, referring to Harris. Trump has also frequently made false claims, including saying over the weekend that criminals who had entered the United States for decades, including during Trump’s time in office, all arrived while Harris and President Joe Biden were in office. And Trump falsely claimed that the statistics were specifically about people now living freely in the United States; The figures actually include people who are currently in prison and serving sentences. Harris, meanwhile, often invokes her own history as a prosecutor, pointing to her time as California attorney general and her efforts to prosecute transnational criminal organizations. She contrasted this with Trump, who was convicted in New York in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records and is facing criminal charges in Georgia and at the federal level over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. On a U.S. trip to Mexico while stopping at the Arizona border last week, Harris also criticized Trump for his role in passing a bipartisan border security bill on Capitol Hill earlier this year. And she promised to do more to reduce illegal border crossings and “take tougher criminal charges against repeat offenders.” The preliminary numbers in the FBI’s Quarterly Uniform Crime Report, which covers January through June, have important limitations. On the one hand, the office relies on data voluntarily submitted by police authorities. The figures released Monday were collected from more than 14,800 of just over 19,300 law enforcement agencies across the country, according to the office. The new preliminary numbers do not include data from Los Angeles and may only include partial numbers from Chicago. Crime analysts also say the quarterly data is inaccurate because law enforcement has the rest of the year to review and correct any reporting errors before the final annual numbers are released by the FBI. Jeff Asher, criminal justice analyst and co-founder of consulting firm AH Datalytics, previously told CNN: “We have other data sources that point to the same trends, but the magnitude of these declines is likely overstated.” “The latest preliminary snapshot of falling crime rates in 2024 comes a week after the FBI released a more detailed report with its final numbers for 2023, which showed a decline in crime in numerous categories last year. The 2023 report, which included figures from every major city in the country, showed a dramatic 12% drop in murder and intentional homicide and a 3% drop in violent crime.

WASHINGTON –

The new figures show murders fell 23% from January to June compared to the same period in 2023, while violent crime fell 10% and reported rapes fell 18%. According to the data, during that period, aggravated assaults fell 8% year-over-year, while robberies fell 14% and reported property crimes fell 13%.

Monday’s release is sure to draw significant attention from the campaigns of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, as crime was a major political issue in the 2024 presidential election. Trump has made crime — particularly violent crimes committed by undocumented immigrants — a focus of his campaign and often highlights specific attacks on Americans.

Signs at Trump’s event in Wisconsin on Saturday featured images of non-citizens arrested for alleged violent crimes. Two monitors displayed the slogan: “Stop the invasion of America’s small towns.” Another in a rotating slide series showed an image of migrants in a crowded classroom with the message: “Open borders = crowded classrooms.”

“Hundreds of people have been murdered because of her actions at the border, and thousands more will follow in rapid succession.” “She should be charged and prosecuted for her actions,” the former president said, referring to Harris.

Trump has also frequently made false claims, including saying over the weekend that criminals who have entered the United States for decades, including during Trump’s time in office, have all arrived while Harris and President Joe Biden are in office.

And Trump falsely claimed that the statistics were specifically about people now living freely in the United States; The figures actually include people who are currently in prison and serving sentences.

Harris, meanwhile, often invokes her own history as a prosecutor, pointing to her time as California attorney general and her efforts to prosecute transnational criminal organizations.

She compared this to Trump, who was convicted in New York in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records and is being prosecuted in Georgia and at the federal level for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

During a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona last week, Harris also criticized Trump for his role in pushing through a bipartisan border security bill on Capitol Hill earlier this year. And she pledged to do more to reduce illegal border crossings and “file more serious criminal charges against repeat offenders.”

The preliminary numbers in the FBI’s Quarterly Uniform Crime Report, which covers January through June, have important limitations. On the one hand, the office relies on data voluntarily submitted by police authorities.

The figures released Monday were collected from more than 14,800 of just over 19,300 law enforcement agencies across the country, according to the office. The new preliminary numbers do not include data from Los Angeles and may only include partial numbers from Chicago.

Crime analysts also say the quarterly data is inaccurate because law enforcement has the rest of the year to review and correct any reporting errors before the final annual figures are released by the FBI.

Jeff Asher, criminal justice analyst and co-founder of consulting firm AH Datalytics, previously told CNN: “We have other data sources that point to the same trends, but the magnitude of these declines is likely overstated because of the methodology used by the FBI.”

The latest preliminary snapshot of falling crime rates in 2024 comes a week after the FBI released a more detailed report with its final numbers for 2023, which showed a decline in crime in numerous categories last year.

The 2023 report, which included figures from every major city in the country, showed a dramatic 12% drop in murder and intentional homicide and a 3% drop in violent crime.

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