According to the FBI’s Annual Crime Victimization Survey, between 2019 and 2023, violent crime increased by 10.4% and property crime increased by 6.4%.
Each year, the FBI releases major crime reporting data for the previous calendar year and a separate Crime Victimization Survey that asks Americans what crimes they have been victimized by. Comparing these reports provides insight into crime reporting rates and the accuracy of crime statistics.
Previous reports have shown that thefts are getting worse and are often underreported, but the discrepancy between the FBI’s annual Crime Victimization Survey and the tally of reported crimes is growing. indicates that theft trends are worsening.
However, recent changes in how crime reporting data is collected, as well as unusual data and reporting during the coronavirus era of 2020, have muddied the picture.
The FBI set a January 2021 deadline for agencies to transition from a paper-based summary reporting system, in which each criminal incident is reported along with the worst crime committed in that incident, to a computer-based national incident-based reporting system in 2016. It was set on the 1st. A system that can record up to 10 crimes per incident. However, 40% of law enforcement agencies did not make the change in time. This includes most agencies in populous California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Florida, as well as the two largest agencies: the New York City Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department.
As a result, violent crime and property crime reported between 2020 and 2021 decreased by 15.9% and 27.3%, respectively, but at the same time, violent crime victimization increased by 0.9% and property crime decreased by 3.3%. The percentage of reported violent crimes against victims decreased from 85.6% in 2021 to 71.4% in 2021, and the percentage of property crimes decreased from 51.6% to 38.8%. This highlights how the number of reported crimes in 2021 is the product of a chaotic shift in data collection. .
Data for 2022 and 2023 improved, with only 17% of institutions failing to submit at least three months of NIBRS data in 2022, and 16,009 institutions covering 95.2% of the national population reporting for 2023. went. Complete data for 2023 was released at the end of the year. September now shows that violent crime reporting rates for property crimes (disaggregated by victim) are back to 2019 levels, but property crime reporting rates are still 14.4% below 2019 levels. , highlighting the perception that Americans don’t report property crimes as much as they do. crimes that happen to them.
Kenneth Schlapp
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Reposted with permission
