Crime rates, particularly for violent crimes, dropped across the U.S. last year, according to newly released statistics from the FBI.
The findings, based on reported data from 2023, showed murder and non-negligent manslaughter decreased 11.6% from the year prior, marking the largest decline in two decades. That's also almost double the drop from 2021 to 2022, which was 6.1%.
Rapes also decreased significantly with an estimated 9.4% decline, and aggravated assaults were down 2.8% last year. Robbery also decreased nationally by 0.3%, the FBI said.
Overall, national violent crime decreased 3% from 2022 to 2023, and property crime rates dropped 2.4%, the annual report showed.
A 7.6% decline in burglary and a 4.4% drop in larceny rates contributed to the decrease in property crime. However, there was also a 12.6% rise in motor vehicle theft, which is the highest rate since 2007. It followed last year's report marking the largest year-to-year increase for the category.
More than 16,000 law enforcement agencies covering 94.3% of the nation's population — including departments in major cities like New York and Los Angeles — submitted data for the report.
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It comes as the U.S. is weeks away from its presidential election, in which both main party candidates have made crime policy key parts of their campaigns.
On one hand, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris has leaned into her former role of attorney general as proof she's tackled crime and criminals, likening Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to another criminal that she'll take down.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump claims crime rates have risen "through the roof" under President Biden and Vice President Harris and has referred to the FBI as "defrauding statements" in cases that its data shows otherwise.
Trump did not release a statement in response to the FBI's report, but Harris again touted her former prosecutorial roles in hers. She also mentioned the spike in violent crime rates from before she and the president took office in 2020 as proof that the work they "immediately" did then has led to the decline in rates now and that the "great progress" wouldn't be stopping.
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"Americans are safer now than when we took office," her statement read. "Our progress is continuing this year and builds on substantial decreases during the previous years of our administration... I am committed to continuing our work to support local law enforcement, invest in proven crime prevention and community violence intervention and address gun violence with commonsense gun safety laws."
President Biden also referred to the efforts he and Harris took on in 2020 as reason for the decline, particularly the American Rescue Plan's investment into public safety and executive actions on guns.
"None of this happened by accident," the president said before listing off his administration's accomplishments. "We're not stopping now. The only way to continue this progress is by investing in what works. That’s why I will continue to urge Congress to fund 100,000 additional police officers and a strong ATF, invest in community violence intervention programs and make commonsense gun safety reforms, including a ban on assault weapons."
