Violent crime declined overall in the U.S. last year, but hate crimes and property crimes increased, new crime statistics from the FBI show.
Per the annual report, murder and non-negligent manslaughter rates dropped 6.1% last year compared to 2021, rape dropped 5.4% and aggravated assault dropped 1.1% — an encouraging tide shift after a surge in violent crime in 2020 created a multitude of ripple effects.
Murder rates have also declined in last year's report after jumping 29% during the pandemic, but the number of murders is still higher than it was before the pandemic, with 25% more in 2022 than in 2019.
And although violent crimes were down overall, juvenile victims falling to gun violence rose 11.8%, and assaults on law enforcement officers rose 1.8%.
Other crimes were also shown to be getting worse.
Hate crime incidents increased from 10,840 in 2021 to 11,634 in 2022, with nearly 52% due to "anti-Black or African American bias," the agency said. But there was also an increase in anti-Hispanic and anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes.
How has the Hate Crime Law been used to protect the gay community?
The Human Rights Campaign says 2022 was a record year for hate crimes against LGBTQ+ communities.
Also shown as increasing in the FBI's report was property crimes, which rose 7.1%, with about 1,954 per 100,000 people. This was driven by a 10.9% increase for a striking total of 1 million vehicle thefts in 2022.
Carjacking, meaning when an assailant uses force or fear in the theft of an automobile, was also up 8.1%, with the majority of cases involving a weapon and more than 25% of cases ending up with someone injured.
These increases appear as multiple car companies have reported issues and instated recalls due to anti-theft systems failing, such as in Kia and Hyundai vehicles.
The new statistics, released every October by the federal agency, didn't include every law enforcement agency's data, but it came far closer to a full scope than it had in the past.
This year's report represented 83.3% of all agencies and 93.5% of the population compared to last year's 62.7% of agencies and 64.8% of Americans.
In last year's report, many major cities failed to participate, including Los Angeles and New York, which constituted a major overhaul in how agencies report to the FBI.
This year, more than 15,000 police agencies contributed data, which is an increase of about 1,500 since 2021.
