FBI: US violent crime falls again, hits pre-Covid levels

A wide-ranging report found that violent crime dropped 3% in the last year, while murder dropped 11.6%

Police officer at Virginia donut shop
The FBI's numbers "further undermine" Donald Trump's claim that "crime is on the rise across the country"
(Image credit: Mark Reinstein / Corbis via Getty Images)

What happened

The FBI said yesterday that violent crime fell 3% in the U.S. last year while murder and non-negligent homicide dropped 11.6% — the sharpest decline in two decades — and reported rapes were down 9.4%. The FBI's annual 2023 Crime in the Nation Report also found that while property crimes decreased 2.4% from 2022 to 2023 and burglary fell 7.6%, car thefts rose 12.6%.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.