The FBI released its Uniform Crime Reporting report on Monday, showing violent crime during the first three months of 2024 experienced a 15% compared to a year earlier. File Photo courtesy U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation
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June 11 (UPI) — Violent crime in the United States continued to drop during the first three months of the year, according to statistics released by the FBI that Attorney General Merrick Garland described as “historic.”
The FBI on Monday released its Quarterly Uniform Crime Report showing that violent crime across the country dropped by more than 15% between January and March compared to a year earlier.
Murder experienced a drastic drop of 26.4%, it said, while rape offenses decreased by 25.7%.
Robbery experienced a drop of nearly 18%, aggravated assault by 12.5% and reported property crime fell by 15.1%, it said.
“This data makes clear that last year’s historic decline in violent crime is continuing,” Garland said Monday in a statement.
“This continued historic decline in homicides 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 report represents a win for President Joe Biden and his re-election campaign as Republicans and its presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, have attempted to position the former president as being tough on crime, despite being the first American president to be convicted of a felony.
Biden’s campaign attempted score political points off the announcement, with Ammar Moussa, the president’s campaign spokesperson, stating in a statment that Trump “enabled the largest spike in violent crime in more than a century” and that Biden “has worked to clean up his mess.”
“Americans can’t afford another four years of Trump trying to defund law enforcement agencies while he makes good on his promise to pardon violent rioters,” Moussa added, referring to Trump’s repeated comments that he’ll pardon those convicted on charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection attempt.
“This November, Americans will vote on the side of law and order — not for a felon who looks out for his fellow crooks.”
Biden also issued a statement via the White House, stating the decrease in crime was “no accident” and the result of his administration “putting more cops on the beat, holding violent criminals accountable and getting illegal guns off the street.”
“As a result, Americans are safer today than when I took office,” he said.
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This story was originally published June 11, 2024, 3:46 AM.