Combating Disinformation: Crime and Drugs
As America finds itself cozying up to its tyrannical enemy while pushing away our allies, Trump said that we should worry less about Putin and more about the crime and drugs flowing into America.
In 2020, Americans did have reason to be concerned about crime. We saw the largest spike in homicides in US history, violent crime as a whole increased, and gun violence skyrocketed. At the same time, fentanyl began flowing into the US and drug overdoses dramatically increased nationwide.
But that was then. What is happening in America today?
Violent crime and homicides decreased every year for the last four years. The FBI won’t have its full 2024 crime report ready to release for several more months, but their previous quarterly report saw:
Violent crime decreased by 10.3%
Murder decreased by 22.7%
Rape decreased by 17.7%
Robbery decreased by 13.6%
Aggravated assault decreased by 8.1%
Property crime decreased by 13.1%
The Major Cities Chiefs Association, which represents data from 69 large police departments, found that in 2024:
Homicides decreased by 16%
Violent crime decreased by 6%
Rape decreased by 6%
Robberies decreased by 9%
Aggravated assaults decreased by 5%
Numerous sources show the same thing: crime decreased in 2024. But how does this compare to 2019, before the pandemic and crime spikes? FBI data for 2023 already showed that violent crime was lower than in 2019, and homicides were still slightly elevated but dropping rapidly.
The Council of Criminal Justice compiled data from 40 major US cities and found that compared to 2019:
Homicides decreased by 6%
Sexual assault decreased by 26%
Domestic violence decreased by 11%
Robbery decreased by 19%
Residential burglaries decreased by 38%
Larceny decreased by 12%
Drug offenses decreased by 28%
The CDC also reported that drug overdoses declined by ~25% in 2024.
Americans don’t need to be overly concerned about crime. Violent crime is the lowest in over 50 years, and almost all crime categories are declining. But there is one area that people should be concerned about, and it is the one type of crime that Republicans never want to discuss: gun violence.
America has a gun problem unlike any of our peer nations. While gun violence is rare and mass shootings non-existent in many other countries such as Great Britain and Australia, America continues to have more than one mass shooting every day, over 1,500 children killed by guns each year, and over 16,000 deaths overall.
While these numbers are lower than in recent years, they are still far too high. If Trump and Republicans want to focus more of their attention on what is happening within our borders, then gun reform is where they should begin.
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/19/homicides-crime-decline-2024
https://counciloncj.org/crime-trends-in-u-s-cities-year-end-2024-update/
