Why does the public think it's going up? “There is definitely more disorder in cities than there was five years ago," said one expert. “People confuse disorder and crime."

Why does the public think it’s going up? “There is definitely more disorder in cities than there was five years ago," said one expert. “People confuse disorder and crime."

New FBI data confirms previous indications that crime in the U.S. declined significantly in 2023, continuing a post-pandemic trend and belying widespread perceptions that crime is rising.

The new fourth-quarter numbers showed a 13% decline in murder in 2023 from 2022, a 6% decline in reported violent crime and a 4% decline in reported property crime. That’s based on data from around 13,000 law enforcement agencies, policing about 82% of the U.S. population, that provided the FBI with data through December.

“It suggests that when we get the final data in October, we will have seen likely the largest one-year decline in murder that has ever been recorded,” said Jeff Asher, a former CIA analyst who now studies crime trends.

  • spujbEnglish
    24·
    3 months ago

    yeah cuz what is “disorder”? i don’t even have a guess at what that is referring to

    but i see media coverage of crime fearmongering all the time

    edit: and USA politicians are more than complicit. they are leveraging and amplifying this narrative intentionally because it is the right wing platform of choice this election cycle.

    • Not_mikey@slrpnk.net
      6·
      3 months ago

      I read it as homeless people, not actually a crime but people associate the two so much that an increase in one “must” mean an increase in the other.

      • spujbEnglish
        6·
        3 months ago

        oh interesting that could be an explanation

        heartbreaking that that is the popular understanding. more people without homes = more criminals obviously! and of course the solution must be more police and enforcement! not more accessibility to homes that would be ridiculous. hashtag border crisis. (/s)