A brand new report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has discovered that crime in america decreased in 2024, persevering with a development of improved public security after a spike in murders through the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report, launched on Tuesday, estimates that 1,221,345 incidents of violent crime – together with homicide, rape, theft and aggravated assault offences – befell within the US final yr, down by 4.5 % from 2023.
Intentional homicides decreased by 14.9 %. However at a price of 5 for each 100,000 folks, the homicide price within the US stays considerably larger than all through many of the world.
For instance, in accordance with United Nations knowledge, the homicide price in Japan in 2023 was 0.23 per 100,000 folks. In Oman, the speed was 0.14. In Norway, it was 0.72. And within the US’s northern neighbour, Canada, the speed was 1.98.
Nonetheless, the 2024 homicide price within the US represents a nine-year low and a significant decline from a latest peak of 6.7 per 100,000 in 2020, the primary yr of the pandemic.
Rape offences additionally went down by 5.2 % in 2024, the report stated, whereas experiences of hate crimes decreased by 1.5 %.
Knowledge submitted to the FBI reveals a violent crime occurred on common each 26 seconds in 2024 and legislation enforcement made greater than 419,000 violent crime arrests.
Learn extra within the FBI’s “Reported Crimes within the Nation, 2024” abstract: https://t.co/YWWyPCxuVw. pic.twitter.com/i7twv3QoPB
— FBI (@FBI) August 5, 2025
General, a violent crime occurred within the US each 26 seconds, a homicide each 31 minutes and a rape offence each 4 minutes.
Property crime additionally decreased in 2024, in accordance with the FBI report. The bureau recorded 5,986,400 such offences, an 8.1 % lower from 2023.
The information relies on the reporting of 1000’s of legislation enforcement companies that cowl 95.6 % of US residents, the FBI stated.
Based on the report, 64 law enforcement officials have been criminally killed final yr, and 43 others died in accidents. Greater than 85,700 officers have been assaulted, a slight uptick from 2023 and a 10-year excessive.
Gun violence has been a number one driver of crime within the US. Based on the database Gun Violence Archives, there have been 8,878 gun-related deaths and 261 mass shootings to this point in 2025.
Final week, an attacker armed with a rifle killed 4 folks, together with a police officer, close to the headquarters of the Nationwide Soccer League (NFL) in New York Metropolis.
Final yr, US President Donald Trump made public security a significant theme in his election marketing campaign, portraying his Democratic rivals as weak on crime and anti-police.
Though the preliminary uptick in crime charges occurred over the last yr of Trump’s first time period, the Republican chief repeatedly promised to revive “legislation and order”. It’s largely the states and native authorities that oversee policing.
On Tuesday, Trump renewed his criticism of native policing and prosecution in Washington, DC, threatening to have federal authorities take over the US capital metropolis.
He claimed that teenage “thugs” are randomly attacking folks within the capital metropolis and known as for any youth suspects to be prosecuted and tried as adults.
“Washington, DC, should be protected, clear, and delightful for all Individuals and, importantly, for the World to see,” Trump wrote in a social media publish.
“If DC doesn’t get its act collectively, and shortly, we may have no alternative however to take Federal management of the Metropolis, and run this Metropolis the way it needs to be run, and put criminals on discover that they’re not going to get away with it anymore.”
Nevertheless, official knowledge reveals that crime has been on a downward development in Washington, DC, contradicting Trump’s declare that the capital “is completely uncontrolled”.
For instance, violent crime went down by 35 % in 2024 in contrast with the earlier yr, and murder dropped by 32 %.
Tuesday’s knowledge doesn’t mirror the state of public security underneath Trump, who returned to the White Home in January this yr.
