this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2024
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In 2020, the United States experienced one of its most dangerous years in decades.

The number of murders across the country surged by nearly 30 percent between 2019 and 2020, according to FBI statistics. The overall violent crime rate, which includes murder, assault, robbery and rape, inched up around 5 percent in the same period.

But in 2023, crime in America looked very different.

"At some point in 2022 — at the end of 2022 or through 2023 — there was just a tipping point where violence started to fall and it just continued to fall," said Jeff Asher, a crime analyst and co-founder of AH Datalytics.

...

There are some outliers to this trend — murder rates are up in Washington, D.C., Memphis and Seattle, for example — and some nonviolent crimes like car theft are up in certain cities. But the national trend on violence is clear.

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[–] kellyaster@kbin.social 86 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You're right, but that's not why people think violent crime is high. They think that because the media knows that when they report on crime, they get eyes on them and eyes on them mean they can sell more advertising. So every violent crime they can report on gets reported on and in ever-increasing numbers to make it look like the amount of violent crime is at least steady, if not rising.

And, of course, that helps "tough on crime" politicians (mostly Republicans) as well.

[–] Lightfire228@pawb.social 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I wonder how tough it would be to set up an "open source" style news media / investigative journal. Ideally using crowdfunding

Something without an incentive for metrics chasing

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The problem in a nutshell is us. They wouldn't chase crime if it didn't get more people tuning in.

ETA - there's no reason you couldn't, just like there's 2 or 3 projects trying to debias news.

[–] Drewelite@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 1 year ago

I honestly think if America isn't consumed by its ever increasing pessimism, it will eventually come to the realization that accurate information is one of the most valuable things. I'm hoping rampant AI generated misinformation will be the catalyst for this. And people will actually start putting money towards real journalism again.

[–] VampyreOfNazareth@lemm.ee 19 points 1 year ago

Dead men don't tell tales, or some authoritarian shit.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’d be curious as to know which segment of Americans are least likely to believe it - or actively professing the opposite.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (3 children)
[–] Gork@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago

Chimichangas

[–] kellyaster@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Pat, I'd like to solve the puzzle.

Cups!

[–] MindSkipperBro12@lemmy.world -5 points 1 year ago

Communists?

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago (3 children)

People around here and Reddit get really angry when you point this out. It's weird, it's like people want things to suck.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

its cause all they hear in their news bubbles is doom and gloom and constant violence and shooting.

and cant take a second to think about the fact that these reports are from across the entire fucking country, or even beyond its borders, They just focus on "news says things bad brrrrr"

This is a constant argument in my family, and for this exact reason. No amount of statistical or empirical evidence convinces them, and the response is "If thats true was is the news always reporting violence?!"

[–] Drewelite@lemmynsfw.com 3 points 1 year ago

People have a really hard time separating their own personal anecdotal experience from fact. It takes an extremely mature mental state and trust in the data's accuracy. There has been a rise in more extreme crimes, like mass shootings. Overall this makes a negligible impact on the murder rate. But it's scary. The media knows that, more than anything else, gets people's attention. Then people go online and talk about how shitty everything is, and the cycle perpetuates.

The sad part is that people with zero self-esteem often fail simply because they assume they cannot win. And I fear that will be the case for our country as a whole. If we hold onto this belief that we are the worst place on earth, we will fulfill our own prophecy.

[–] GladiusB@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago

Well I think part of it is WHO is being killed when there are crimes. And that is children. No one can get behind that.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How about white collar crime? Seems like a lot of people made out pretty well with Covid relief funds.

[–] alienanimals@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Congress insider trading is at an all time high. Shame nobody prosecutes the rich.

[–] Draegur@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

i was looking for numbers though. specifically how crime in 2022 and 2023 compare to BEFORE the big spike that happened in 2019 and 2020. If crime is still higher than it was in 2018, then this local minimum isn't going to matter as much.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

It's lower than 2018. Lower than 2010. Lower than 2000. Lower than 1990.

The only year it's not lower than is 2019. And it's just barely higher.

Americans don't believe it because the media wants us scared.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/191219/reported-violent-crime-rate-in-the-usa-since-1990/

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

They almost never do. There was a brief spike there a few years ago, but overall, violent crime has been going down for decades.

[–] xXSirDanglesXx@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Three people were killed at my trade school today.

[–] Happytongue@lemm.ee -2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It’s not a crime if it’s not reported right? If people don’t want the police, or if the police’s job has been hampered, defunded or the like, and the police in turn just don’t care, no it won’t be part of that statistic. But the reality remains, a crime is still a crime even if its status has been changed, it’s just not counted as one. Wrong is wrong. The is why there are those who do t believe claims like this. I’ve seen violence against people, destruction of property, theft and more all done out in the open, and nothing is done about it. To think crime is somehow not happening or “dropping fast” is an absolute and outright lie. It’s straight bullshit through and through. How anyone could believe that is ridiculous. There has been an uptick in violence at least here in California that has mostly gone unreported. Why that is, is a good question. Cartel involvement is a good starting point. You can choose not to believe this, but if you live here, you know - violence is not dropping at all, nor is any other crime.