Former President Donald Trump falsely claimed on Tuesday that US crime statistics are “only” going up. In fact, most US crime numbers went down last year – and the decreases included one of the largest national declines in murder ever recorded.
Trump’s speech in Michigan focused on crime perpetrated by people who illegally entered the US. After he said that crime in Venezuela has fallen amid a wave of emigration from the South American country – and exaggerated the extent of Venezuela’s improvement – he added, “Wouldn’t we love to have a statistic where crime is down 67%? Ours is only going in one direction.” He pointed sharply upward with his hand.
Facts First: Trump’s claim that US crime statistics are only going up is false. Murder, other kinds of reported violent crime and reported property crime all dropped in 2023, according to preliminary statistics published by the FBI. Crime data expert Jeff Asher says that, if confirmed by final data, the roughly 13% decline in murder would be the single biggest one-year drop on record in US data dating back to 1960, while the roughly 6% decline in reported violent crime would be one of the biggest on record; reported violent crime declined in every quadrant of the country, in cities of all sizes and in in rural communities. In addition, as Asher has pointed out, partial urban data for early 2024 shows that the number of murders again declined sharply in the first two months of this year.
This is Biden’s biggest problem. A big chunk of people watch Fox News when they just say how bad Biden is over and over and over ad nauseam.
Propaganda works.
A big chunk of people watch Fox News
Sinclair Media and Clear Channel Communications have a near-monopoly on local TV and radio news networks. NPR is increasingly dominated by AEI goons and associated corporate flakes. There’s still a substantial amount of money to be made selling people door cams and home security systems and school/office metal detectors and private security services.
So we get a steady diet of “Crime Rates Skyrocketing!” from even the most benign-seeming news agencies that need advertising revenue and corporate patronage to exist.
Plot twist… in many cities…
Reported crimes and arrests for crimes went way down… ?
Distorting stats?
Yes it no?
Limitless Peace
Reported crimes and arrests for crimes went way down… ?
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/12/the-benefits-of-fewer-nypd-arrests/384126/
https://jacobin.com/2020/06/nypd-police-slowdown-defund-demilitarize
https://reason.com/2017/09/26/study-finds-nypd-slowdown-in-petty-law-e/
We’ve been in a deliberate organized police-union led slowdown for years now. One of the curious upshots of the slowdown has been that fewer arrests have not led to an increase in gross reported crimes. However, it has resulted in a handful of known bad actors engaging in repeated criminal actions without fear of arrest.
So we get a dicotomy - falling crime data overall indicating an aging population less prone to violent crime, but a plethora of “repeat offender” stories that highlight how existing police institutions have basically given up doing anything other than collecting a paycheck.
Crime rates have been dropping steadily since the mid-90s.
But “It Bleeds, It Leads” news coverage hasn’t meaningfully abated since the heyday.
So you get failing crime rates, but a steady diet of crime journalism, crime TV drama, and hysterical crime “breaking news” headlines (Missing White Lady Syndrome, police blotter local news reports, True Crime podcasts, vague angry rants from AM Radio news jockeys).
What am I supposed to believe? Your occasional odd statistics? Or my endlessly bombarded ears/eyes?
