US violent crime decreased in 2023, continuing to reverse pandemic-era spike, FBI data shows

WASHINGTON (AP) — New FBI statistics show overall violent crime in the U.S. dropped again last year, continuing a downward trend after a pandemic-era spike.

Murders dropped 13% in the last three months of 2023 compared with the same period the year before, according to FBI data released this week. Violent crime overall was down 6%.

Property crime also ticked downward about 3% in the nation as a whole, though in the Northeast and in large cities over a million people it increased by about the same amount.

The quarterly report released Tuesday is based on data sent to the FBI from about 80% of the law enforcement agencies in the country. Final detailed data for 2023 is expected to be released in the fall.

President Joe Biden said the drop in the murder rate was one of the steepest in the country’s history. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, passed in 2021 by a Democratic-led Congress and signed by Biden, allowed cities and states to invest $15 billion on public safety, he said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland called the data encouraging and touted law enforcement efforts to target gangs, illegal guns and other issues.

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