The number of murders within the U.S. fell significantly last year, as per recently released FBI figures. However, reports of hate crime and theft of property grew.
The FBI’s Crime in the Nation analysis collects crime statistics for the year that are compiled from over 15,000 police departments across the United States. The agencies provide data on a voluntary basis and their participation is not uniform. However, the report provides the most complete overview of crime trends reported across the country.
Here are four important aspects of the data for 2022.
Homicides have decreased, but are more than they were before the pandemic.
The rate of homicides decreased significantly in the last year, falling by more than 6% in comparison to 2021.
Many experts predicted the possibility of a decrease in murders, which is consistent with the reports they heard about the fewer reported murders at the local scale. In 2020, the U.S. saw the most dramatic increase in the number of murders over 100 years. Homicides have decreased since then but they’re not the same as they were in 2019 prior to the outbreak. Other research suggests that the drop is likely to continue into 2023..
The reason why homicides increased by a significant amount in the year 2020 – or the reason they’re declining now isn’t easy and is likely to be a result of several reasons. There are theories that seem to make sense, according to Ames Grawert, justice program chief counsel at Brennan Center for Justice. Brennan Center for Justice.
“The disease of the pandemic, and the stress it brought to the social institutions of all kinds as well as the fact that it slowed down vital areas of our communities, like schools, violence prevention programs libraries, and other things like which, you should not underestimate the effect of those events,” Grawert says.
A rise in the number of guns and a decrease in police force and law enforcement disengaged from police involvement in proactive ways, could also have contributed to the rise, according to Justin Nix, an associate professor of criminal justice and criminology in the University of Nebraska Omaha.
“But I’d also like to say that in 2020 that one year spike was a record,” says Nix. “So it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that a few years later, we’ve had not seen anything like that but rather a dramatic decrease in homicides.”
In general, the number of reports of violent crime – which included assault and rape – also decreased in the in the last year. When crimes were recorded guns were the most commonly employed weapon, and both the perpetrators and victims were aged between 30 and 35 years old.
Car and property thefts are heading in the wrong direction.
Reports of larceny which is essentially stealing motor vehicle parts, and larceny both increased dramatically this year, with an increase of 10% and 8 percent, respectively.
Experts attribute the increase in vehicle thefts to the TikTok trend that revealed security weaknesses within Hyundai and Kia vehicles, making it easier to steal. However, Grawert states that the rising number of shoplifting and car theft as a form of larceny, must be considered in the context of.
“Property crimes have been generally on a downward trend for the past thirty years now,” Grawert says. “The 2022 information in this context is something of rebound. It’s not necessarily a rise in comparison to the prior pandemic base.”
Property crime however, tends to be reported more inconsistently than other violent crime statistics.
The number of hate crimes is on the rise However, we need more information
The number of reports of hate crimes has been increasing for many years.
In 2013 there were more than 11,000 hate crimes reported that are motivated by specific aspects of a victim’s identity such as race or religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Black individuals, Jewish people and gay men were most susceptible to being targeted.
Every crime is under-reported. This is particularly relevant to hate crimes due to police discretion according to Insha Rahman, vice-president in the area of partnerships and advocacy at Vera Institute of Justice.
“Many jurisdictions aren’t able to accurately determine the characteristics of an act of hate as well, or even if it is. it’s more difficult to identify accurately because it is a matter of determining the motive,” Rahman says. “That is a more difficult thing to determine as opposed to, say that property was stolen, did someone get hurt.”
In 2017 James Cullen, then a researcher at the Brennan Center, highlighted the issue.
“According according to FBI according to the FBI, there were no hate crime in Mississippi in the year 2015. None. That’s unbelievable in the literal sense. It’s a lie,” Cullen wrote.
“Shaky could be an understatement” Nix said when describing the data about hate crime.
If a crime is not classified as a “hate” crime, it doesn’t mean that it’s unreported. In many instances the actual crime that is being committed – such as intimidation, assault or vandalism – is the one that appears on the paper.
However, Rahman states that communities with marginalized populations do not require statistics to understand the growth.
“There’s an extremely real fear that certain communities face in the United States that they’re more prone being targeted for attack,” she says. “The stabbing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy or the swastikas at the synagogue located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan these are the events that drive the fears and perceptions, much more so than the numbers.”
Get ready for a spin
Republicans often blame Democrats for the rise in criminality – a popular chant that isn’t always supported by evidence. In both Alabama and Massachusetts states, located at opposite extremes in the political spectrum witnessed a rise in violent crime in the past year, whereas Florida as well as Rhode Island saw it fall.
“When we talk about crime is it about what exactly is it we are talking about? Do we mean the most frightening crime, such as homicides or the robberies? The report provides us with the an opportunity, at a national level to be hopeful although that may not be the case in your backyard,” says Nix, from at the University of Nebraska Omaha. “If we’re concerned about our property being taken away, this report provides us with a reasons to be a slightly concerned that it’s heading to the right direction. But, it could not be the case in your backyard.”
Additionally, the way that people view crime and the amount of crime described aren’t always the same. For instance, a poll conducted in October of last year indicated that the majority of those polled believed that violent crime was on the rise across the nation.
“People’s opinions about crime tend to of get stale within the last century. I’ve seen some politicians on pretty large stage discuss crime as if it were still in 2020,” Grawert says.
“It’s an issue that our perception of crime is not as accurate as it should be and that means we’re constantly behind in forming decisions and talking about public security.”
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