Government-Crime
From WikiDemocracy
They wanted to save us from a dark AI future. Then six people were killed
by J Oliver Conroy 5/3/25 The Guardian
Years before she became the peculiar central thread linking a double homicide in Pennsylvania, the fatal shooting of a federal agent in Vermont and the murder of an elderly landlord in California, a computer programmer bought a sailboat.
Violent crime is dropping fast in the U.S. — even if Americans don't believe it
by Karen Zamora,Ari Shapiro,Courtney Dorning 12/2/24 npr
The number of murders across the country surged by nearly 30% between 2019 and 2020, according to FBI statistics. The overall violent crime rate, which includes murder, assault, robbery and rape, inched up around 5% in the same period.
Fact check: Violent crime in DC has fallen in 2024 and 2025 after a 2023 spike
President Donald Trump, justifying his temporary federal takeover of policing in the nation’s capital, claimed at a press conference Monday that the violent crime situation in Washington, DC, “is getting worse, not getting better.” He asserted in an executive order that “crime is out of control in the District of Columbia” and that there is “rising violence in the capital.”
D.C.'s crime numbers are all the buzz. But how do we interpret them accurately?
Juliana Kim is a reporter on the General Assignment desk. She has covered breaking news and major events across politics, science, sports, pop culture, international affairs, and more. Her work has appeared on Up First, The Indicator from Planet Money and It's Been a Minute.
Chicago sees historic drop in violent crime during first half of 2025
by William Brangham 3/7/25 PBS NEWS
The city of Chicago saw a historic drop in homicides in the first half of the year, a trend that has largely been mirrored nationwide. For a deeper look at the state of violent crime in the U.S., William Brangham spoke with Jeff Asher. His Real-Time Crime Index compiles data from hundreds of law enforcement agencies nationwide.
New York struggles with a sharp rise in violent crime amid COVID-19
by Jeffrey Brown, Sam Weber 20/5 PBS NEWS
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2017 U.S. Crime Rates Expected To Show Drop-Off
This week alone, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has visited three states to push the Justice Department's efforts to crack down on what he describes as a crime wave sweeping the nation.
Something remarkable is happening with violent crime rates in the US
Americans remained scared of violent crime. The numbers tell a different story.
Crime in New York City Plunges to a Level Not Seen Since the 1950s
by Ashley Southall 27/12/17 The New York Times
It would have seemed unbelievable in 1990, when there were 2,245 killings in New York City, but as of Wednesday there have been just 286 in the city this year — the lowest since reliable records have been kept.
How Crime Rates In New York City Reached Record Lows
In 1990, the number of murders in New York City peaked, with more than 2,200 people killed. That same year, Bill Bratton took command as chief of the New York City Transit Police. He went on to serve as New York City police commissioner from 1994 to 1996. It was during those years, and the years following, that the city saw a precipitous drop in murder rates, violent crimes, burglary and vehicle theft.
FBI stats on hate crimes are scary. So is what’s missing
by Maya Berry and Kai Wiggins 14/11/18 CNN
The federal government’s 2017 hate crime statistics are out, and they show a disturbing trend: Last year, as in 2016 and 2015 before, hate crimes were on the rise. But what the data fail to show is perhaps even more alarm
A look at D.C. crime stats as Trump and city leaders offer competing claims
by Amna Nawaz 19/8/25 PBS NEWS
President Trump paints the nation’s capital as a city beset by crime and called in National Guard troops. D.C. leaders contend there is no crisis, pointing to crime rates at 30-year lows. But Charles Lehman of the conservative Manhattan Institute argues neither side is telling the complete truth. Amna Nawaz spoke with Lehman about how both the locals and feds could pursue smarter solutions.
Trump’s DC rhetoric echoes history of racist narratives about urban crime
by Matt Brown 12/8/25 PBS NEWS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has taken control of D.C.’s law enforcement and ordered National Guard troops to deploy onto the streets of the nation’s capital, arguing the extraordinary moves are necessary to curb an urgent public safety crisis.
Violent crime drops but remains at "historic highs"
by Meira Gebel, Russell Contreras 3/3/25 AXIOS Portland
Homicides in Portland fell 8% from 2023 to 2024 amid a drop in overall violent crime, according to preliminary data.
Free speech needs fearless journalism
One chart that puts mass incarceration in historical context
Big Cities See Violent Crime Rates Fall In 2013
Cities across the country saw sharp drops in violent crime rates in 2013. For some big cities, murder rates reached historic lows. The numbers reflect a decades-long decline, which shows that plenty of neighborhoods in urban areas are safe while some remain troubled by violent crime.
Ice arrests of migrants with no criminal history surging under Trump
by José Olivares and Will Craft 14/6/25 The Guardian
The federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency has exponentially increased the arrest and detention of immigrants without any criminal history since the second Trump administration took office, a data analysis by the Guardian shows.
Researchers say the FBI's statistics on hate crimes across the country are flawed
The FBI annualized collection of data from law enforcement agencies saw 7,262 crimes motivated by race, religion, gender or other factors last year. That's a decrease from 8,263 incidents in 2020. But those numbers offer misleading conclusions as they are drawn from a pool of 3,255 fewer law enforcement agencies.
Free speech needs fearless journalism
by Joseph Stromberg 4/11/15 Vox
The forgotten history of how automakers invented the crime of “jaywalking”
In a Safer Age, U.S. Rethinks Its ‘Tough on Crime’ System
by Erik Eckholm 13/1/15 The New York Times
The new law expanded the death penalty, and offered the states billions of dollars to hire more police officers and to build more prisons. But what was not clear at the time was that violent crime had already peaked in the early ’90s, starting a decline that has cut the nation’s rates of murder, robbery and assault by half.
Trump: the murder rate is at a 45-year high. Actual statistics: that’s not remotely true.
Trump has repeated this lie over and over again.
How Baltimore’s violent crime rate hit an all-time low: ‘This is not magic. It’s hard work’
by George Chidi 16/8/25 The Guardian
A woman in the neighborhood saw what was about to go down and banged on the door of Safe Streets, a longstanding city-run violence-prevention program and a fixture in Baltimore. Wees knows his community, and knew one of the men well – a guy with a high potential for violence. A shooter. The other guy was new, Wees said.
‘Shocking,’ historic spike in anti-Jewish threats across the US, ADL says
Threats to Jews in the United States tripled in the one-year period since the deadly October 7 terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas, preliminary data provided to CNN by the Anti-Defamation League shows.
Nation's violent crime rate fell in 2024 to lowest in 20 years: FBI
by Russell Contreras 6/8/25 AXIOS
Taking you inside the AI revolution, and delivering scoops and insights on the technologies and regulations reshaping our lives.
Violent crime is down and the US murder rate is plunging, FBI statistics show
by Josh Campbell and Devan Cole 10/6/24 CNN
The new numbers show violent crime from January to March dropped 15.2% compared to the same period in 2023, while murders fell 26.4% and reported rapes decreased by 25.7%. Aggravated assaults decreased during that period
Free speech needs fearless journalism
Ta-Nehisi Coates: “For African Americans, unfreedom is the historical norm”
Machine Bias
by Julia Angwin 23/5/16 PRO PUBLICA
On a spring afternoon in 2014, Brisha Borden was running late to pick up her god-sister from school when she spotted an unlocked kid’s blue Huffy bicycle and a silver Razor scooter. Borden and a friend grabbed the bike and scooter and tried to ride them down the street in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Coral Springs.
