The drop in gun violence in 2023 has been a positive trend for communities across the United States according to the FBI. Detroit is on track to have the fewest homicides since the 1960s. Baltimore is on track to report the fewest murders in nearly a decade, and Philadelphia to post a homicide count more than 25 percent below its 2021 record of 562. In Los Angeles, the number of shooting victims is down more than 200 this year compared to two years ago.
While some categories of crime remain greater than they were before the pandemic, crime overall is decreasing countrywide, including in cities frequently singled out by politicians as dangerous and violent. Just as criminologists linked the rise in murders in 2020 and 2021 to pandemic-related disturbances and protests, they also credit the recent decline in crime to the pandemic's passing.
“Murder didn’t go up because of things that happened in individual neighborhoods or individual streets,” said Jeff Asher, a crime analyst based in New Orleans who tracks homicides in nearly 180 American cities. “It went up because of these big national factors, and I think the big national factors are probably driving it down. The biggest of which is probably Covid going to the background.”
Although violence in the United States has taken a sharp decline, there are still a lot of improvements to be made. Cities such as Los Angeles have showcased a major reduction in cases of rape and murder, however the city is still struggling with property crime. Burglaries, car thefts and personal theft are all up substantially. “We still have far too much violence and we have more work to do” said Chief Michel Moore of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Source: Arango, Tim and Robertson, Campbell. New York Times. "After Rise in Murders During the Pandemic, a Sharp Decline in 2023". https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/29/us/crime-data-fbi-homicides.html. 29/12/2023. [Date accessed: 01/02/2024].
Edited by: Manan Chordia
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