Following a spike in murders during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found that crime in the United States decreased in 2024. This is continuing a trend toward improved public safety.
According to the report released on Tuesday, there were 1, 221, 345 violent crime incidents in the US last year, down 4.5 percent from 2023, including murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault crimes.
Unintentional homicides decreased by 14.9%. However, the murder rate in the US is still significantly higher than it is worldwide, at 5 for every 100 000 people.
For instance, in Japan in 2023, there were only 0.23 murders per 100,000 people, according to UN data. In Oman, the rate was 0.14. In Norway, it was 0.72. The rate was 1.98 in Canada, the US’s northern neighbor.
The US murder rate for 2024 is a nine-year low and a significant decline from the pandemic’s initial peak of 6.7% per 100 000 in 2020.
According to the report, rape crimes decreased by 5.2% in 2024, while hate crime reports decreased by 1.5%.
According to data provided to the FBI, violent crimes were committed on average every 26 seconds in 2024, and more than 419, 000 were committed by law enforcement.
The FBI’s “Reported Crimes in the Nation, 2024” summary is available at https://t.co/YWWYPCxuVw for more information. pic. https://twitter.com/i7twv3QoPB
In the US, there are violent crimes committed every 26 seconds, murder every 31 minutes, and rape every four minutes.
According to the FBI report, property crime also decreased in 2024. The bureau recorded 5, 986, 400 such offences, an 8.1 percent decrease from 2023.
According to the FBI, the data is based on the reports of countless law enforcement agencies that cover 95.6% of US residents.
According to the report, 43 people died in accidents and 64 police officers were killed criminally last year. More than 85,700 officers were assaulted, up slightly from 2023 and at a 10-year high.
Gun violence has been the main contributor to crime in the US. There have been 8 878 gun-related fatalities and 261 mass shootings so far in 2025, according to the database Gun Violence Archives.
Four people were killed last week by an armed attacker in New York City, including a police officer, close to the National Football League (NFL) headquarters.
Donald Trump, the president of the United States, made public safety a key focus of his election campaign last year, blaming his Democratic rivals for being anti-crime and anti-police.
The Republican leader repeatedly promised to restore “law and order” despite the initial increase in crime rates occurring during Trump’s final year in office. Police largely operate under the control of the states and local authorities.
Trump threatened to have federal authorities occupy the US capital city on Tuesday, repeating his criticism of local policing and prosecution in Washington, DC.
He alleged that teen “thugs” are randomly attacking people in the capital city, and he demanded that any teen suspects be tried as adults.
In a social media post, Trump wrote that “Washington, DC, must be safe, clean, and beautiful for all Americans and, most importantly, for the world to see.”
“If DC doesn’t get its act together, and we have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, run it the way it should, and let criminals know they won’t get away with it any more,” said one spokesman.
Trump’s assertion that Washington, DC, where crime has declined, is “completely out of control,” is discredited by official data, which shows that crime has decreased.
For instance, homicide decreased by 32 percent and violent crime decreased by 35 percent in 2024 from the same time last year.
Source: Aljazeera
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