Judd L on USA Crime Wave...
Comprehensive data for 2022, released by the FBI on Monday, tells a very different story. And preliminary data suggests that 2023 could feature one of the most dramatic declines in violent crime in modern history.
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In 2022, homicides were down 6.1%, according to FBI data. The nation’s murder rate, the data shows, was 6.3 per 100,000 people. This figure is below 2020 levels, but slightly higher than 2019. Still, since 1991, the rate of murder has dropped 36%.
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Nationwide, the FBI reports that the violent crime rate, including homicide, dropped “an estimated 1.7%” in 2022 compared to the year before. The rate of violent crime is the lowest it has been since 2014, and is nearly half of what it was in 1991 and 1992.
The FBI’s 2022 numbers, which were collected from 13,293 law enforcement across the United States, only address violent crime and property crime. This means that the data does not reflect white-collar offenses like wage theft. And while property crime tends to grab headlines, wage theft is an even larger problem.
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"Property crimes accounted for roughly $30 billion in economic losses in 2019; in contrast, a 2014 estimate by the Economic Policy Institute found that wage theft cost workers nearly $50 billion every year," The Appeal notes.
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According to Asher’s newsletter Jeff-alytics, even with the increase in property crimes in 2022, the property crime rate is still much lower than it has been in recent history. According to Asher, “the property crime rate in the US has fallen an astounding 61 percent since 1991 even accounting for the somewhat sizable increase in 2022.”
As a whole, while property crime garners headlines, wage theft is a large problem.
S: Judd Legum