Crime has become one of the most important talking points in the 2024 election, and the Biden administration is touting new figures showing significant declines in violent crime in the first half of the year.
According to data gathered by the Major Cities Chief Association from 70 of the nation's largest cities, homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault reports are down this year compared to last.
As of the first six months of 2024, compared to the same time in 2023, reported homicides have dropped 17.4%, reported rapes fell 9.7%, reported robberies declined 6% and reported aggravated assaults were down 5.4%. The data released by the Major Cities Chief Association is considered "preliminary," and does not include statistics from suburbs and small cities.
RELATED STORY | Violent crime — including murder, rape and robbery — was down in the first quarter compared to 2023
Major Cities Chief Association also showed sizable declines in homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault reports between 2021 and 2022, and again in 2022 and 2023.
Pandemic shift
Between 2019 and 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigations noted a huge increase in violent crime, especially homicides. In 2019, there were 5.1 homicides per 100,000 people in the U.S. By 2021 there were 6.8 homicides per 100,000 people.
The FBI's data showed that violence remained elevated in 2022. Preliminary crime data from 2023 and the first quarter of 2024 from the FBI show significant decreases in violent crime.
Crime becomes a political issue
The Biden administration said the drop in crime " did not happen by accident."
"When Vice President Harris and I took office, our nation had just seen the largest increase in murders ever recorded during the previous Administration. Immediately, we got to work to make communities safer. Today, new data confirms that our efforts are working and violent crime is at a 50-year low," President Joe Biden said in a statement.
RELATED STORY | Americans fear crime despite downward trends
Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump has tried to paint the Biden administration as soft on crime. Data from voters show many Americans think the justice system is not as tough as it should be on crime.
In a poll taken earlier this year by Pew Research, which came before President Biden dropped out of the race, 81% of Trump supporters and 40% of those who supported Biden said the justice system is not tough enough on crime.
