National crime statistics reported by the FBI for 2022 (crimes reported to law enforcement) are below.
There are multiple sources of information on crime including the recently released National Crime Victimization Survey for 2022 from the Bureau Of Justice Statistics and three groups using big city crime dashboards for 2023.
The National Crime Victimization Survey is important because 42 percent of violent crimes are reported to law enforcement agencies. It’s much less (about 30 percent) for property crimes.
All tell a different story regarding crime in America.
The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) offered new national crime data for 2022 on October 16, 2023. The numbers and rates show a mixed bag of decreases and increases in violent and property crime. The FBI is a US Department of Justice agency.
Background
Before the FBI’s new release, crime increased considerably in 2022 per the National Crime Victimization Survey from the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the US Department of Justice.
Per analyst Jeff Asher, violent crime increased 44 percent which would be the largest increase in violent crime ever reported. There were huge increases for many categories.
The considerable increases in violence via the National Crime Victimization Survey for 2022 were ignored by the national media whereas the FBI’s new release for 2022 received widespread coverage.
The FBI is transitioning to a new system (National Incident-Based Reporting System) offering expanded analysis of criminal activity. However, as stated below, some law enforcement agencies are struggling to adopt the new process and major law enforcement agencies are not fully participating.
FBI Findings For 2022
The FBI offers 12 categories of crimes (13 including hate crimes). Four categories decreased, six categories increased and one (burglary) was flat. Hate crimes increased.
The FBI’s crime statistics estimates for 2022 show that national violent crime decreased an estimated 1.7% in 2022 compared to 2021 estimates.
Murder and non-negligent manslaughter recorded a 2022 estimated nationwide decrease of 6.1% compared to the previous year.
In 2022, the estimated number of offenses in the revised rape category saw an estimated 5.4% decrease.
Aggravated assault in 2022 decreased an estimated 1.1% in 2022.
Robbery showed an estimated increase of 1.3% nationally.
The property crime rate increased considerably for the first time since 2012.
The rate of arson increased considerably.
The rate for burglaries was flat.
The rate for larcenies-thefts increased
The rate of motor vehicle thefts increased considerably.
The FBI reported a 6.9% increase in hate crimes from 2021 to 2022 and a rise in law enforcement participating in reporting, Axios.
Associated Press-The Estimated Number Of juvenile Victims Of Fatal Gun Violence Rose 11.8 Percent
Violent crime across the U.S. decreased last year — dropping to about the same level as before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — but property crimes rose substantially, according to data in the FBI’s annual crime report.
The report comes with an asterisk: Some law enforcement agencies failed to provide data. But a change in collection methods in compiling 2022 numbers helped, and the FBI said the new data represents 83.3% of all agencies covering 93.5% of the population. By contrast, last year’s numbers were from only 62.7% of agencies, representing 64.8% of Americans.
The violent crime rate of 380.7 per 100,000 people was a tick better than 2019 — the year before the pandemic hit the U.S., when the rate was 380.8 per 100,000 people.
This year’s report showed that while the the number of adult victims of fatal gun violence decreased 6.6%, the estimated number of juvenile victims rose 11.8%.
The Marshall Project–Many Large Police Agencies Still Missing From National Crime Data For 2022.
Of the 19 biggest law enforcement agencies — each of which police more than 1 million people — seven were missing from the FBI’s 2022 crime data. The missing agencies include the LAPD, the NYPD, and police departments in Phoenix, San Jose and New York’s Suffolk County.
The FBI later went back to more than 7,000 police departments that didn’t supply hate crime data, and asked them to submit their numbers through the old data collection system that was supposed to be retired.
2023 Big City Crime Data Shows Mostly Decreases In Crime
The data above is from 2022. There are three groups using big city crime dashboard data including the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Analyst Jeff Asher, and the Council on Criminal Justice. The summation for 2013 (for the first six months) is available at Violent And Property Crimes in the US.
The police dashboards show a mix of decreases with some increases in crime.
Conclusions
Per the FBI, homicides are down for 2022 (except for juveniles via gun violence) and groups using big city crime dashboards for the first six months of 2023 suggest that homicides (and most crimes) continue to decrease.
The FBI’s crime statistics estimates for 2022 show that national violent crime decreased an estimated 1.7% in 2022 compared to 2021 which is not an impressive reduction.
Both the National Crime Victimization Survey and the FBI show considerable gains for property crime, especially auto theft which is a significant departure from previous years. Media coverage of the crime struggles of retail establishments is considerable.
But it’s the National Crime Victimization Survey showing huge-record gains in violence for 2022 that sets the stage for the argument that violent crime remains a considerable national problem. The numbers for the National Crime Victimization Survey far outweigh those reported by the FBI and, generally speaking, the larger the numbers for analysis, the more accurate the results.
Anyone reading the collective data can make an argument that violence is either increasing or decreasing except for property crime which is departing from the downward trend for years with significant increases.
Fear of crime data is at record highs.
There is a report (forthcoming) suggesting that most Americans are victimized by crime yearly when you include violent crime, property crime, identity theft, and cyber crime.
Crime was (and will be) a major component in national elections with politicians using the numbers above to make any point they want. There is a multitude of national polls stating that crime and violence were top concerns for voters in 2022.
See More
See more articles on crime and justice at Crime in America.
Most Dangerous Cities/States/Countries at Most Dangerous Cities.
US Crime Rates at Nationwide Crime Rates.
National Offender Recidivism Rates at Offender Recidivism.
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