FBI officials quietly revised crime data for 2022 to show that violent crime rose 4.5% that year rather than falling 2.1% as previously claimed, according to an analysis from the Crime Prevention Research Center.
The research organization found that the FBI updated their crime database to show that “the original drop in violent crime for 2022 was now an increase,” a reality that was not mentioned in their national crime statistics press release issued last month. FBI officials also did not mention that “the new reported increase in 2022 was larger than the claimed decrease in 2023.”
The revised statistics showed a net increase of 80,029 more violent crimes, such as 1,699 more murders, 7,780 more rapes, 33,459 more robberies, and 37,091 more aggravated assaults.
The analysis from the Crime Prevention Research Center warned that a “major weakness for reported crime data” is the fact that most crimes are not reported to the police in the first place. Many critics of national crime statistics also note that some major cities fail to report data to the FBI.
Revisions to the crime statistics come as Democrats assert that crime rates have fallen under President Joe Biden after a wave of violence that started in the summer of 2020. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg insisted on social media last month that “crime is down,” said doubt toward that claim was “just politics,” and added that “if you’re sincerely uncertain or skeptical, then you’ll want to know if the FBI data is corroborated by other, apples-to-apples law enforcement studies.”
Vice President Kamala Harris likewise boasted last month that “Americans are safer now than when we took office” as the FBI publicly released the first version of the national crime statistics.
“Our progress is continuing this year and builds on substantial decreases during the previous years of our administration,” she continued. “While we have made great progress, we are not stopping now. I am committed to continuing our work to support local law enforcement, invest in proven crime prevention and community violence intervention, and address gun violence.”
Former President Donald Trump was fact-checked in the most recent presidential debate by moderators who noted that “the FBI says overall violent crime is coming down.” Trump replied that they did not “include the worst cities” and expressed doubt toward the official statistics.
