Crime Revisionism
27th June 2024
FBI data “makes clear that last year’s historic decline in violent crime is continuing,” he assured America. “This continued historic decline in homicides,” he added, “does not represent abstract statistics. It represents people whose lives were saved—people who are still here to see their children grow up, to work toward fulfilling their dreams, and to contribute to their communities.”
The Attorney General’s misleading statement obscures the troubling reality of increasing, not decreasing, lawlessness. Despite FBI data indicating a 15 percent drop in violent crime and a 26 percent decrease in murders in early 2024, these statistics are marred by significant gaps in reporting, particularly from major cities like Los Angeles and New York City.
This fact was first highlighted by?the Marshall Project, a left-leaning organization that focuses on the country’s criminal justice system. By 2020, the non-profit point out, nearly all law enforcement agencies were included in the FBI’s database. Some agencies provided basic figures, such as total murders or car thefts, using the Summary Reporting System, while others submitted detailed incident reports through the newer National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).