The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Monday that the number of violent crimes nationwide increased in 2020, the first jump of its kind in four years driven mostly by a spike in the number of murders and non-negligent manslaughters during the year.
Per the FBI's 2020 "Crime in the United States" report:
For the first time in four years, the estimated number of violent crimes in the nation increased when compared with the previous year’s statistics, according to FBI figures released today. In 2020, violent crime was up 5.6 percent from the 2019 number. Property crimes dropped 7.8 percent, marking the 18th consecutive year the collective estimates for these offenses declined.
The 2020 statistics show the estimated rate of violent crime was 387.8 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, and the estimated rate of property crime was 1,958.2 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. The violent crime rate rose 5.2 percent when compared with the 2019 rate; the property crime rate declined 8.1 percent.
Breaking these violent crimes down by offense and comparing them to the 2019 report, robberies fell 9.3 percent and rape offenses decreased 12.0 percent while aggravated assaults rose 12.1 percent and murders and non-negligent manslaughters spiked 29.4 percent.
For the first time in four years, the estimated number of violent crimes in the nation increased when compared with the previous year’s statistics, according to FBI figures released today. https://t.co/the0C0SbH7
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) September 27, 2021
The nearly 30 percent increase year-over-year is the largest single-year increase in those offenses in the FBI's history of tracking such crime nationwide that started in the 1960s.
When it comes to property crimes — burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson — most offenses decreased from 2019 numbers except for motor vehicle thefts which increased by 11.8 percent. The FBI reports that victims of property crimes (excluding arson) suffered losses estimated at $17.5 billion in 2020.
There were 7.6 million arrests made by law enforcement across the country in 2020 and, of the 13,377 law enforcement agencies that reported their staffing levels to the FBI, there were 696,644 sworn officers and 309,135 civilians employed in law enforcement in 2020 for a rate of 3.4 employees per 1,000 inhabitants.
The spike in crime in 2020 comes as Democrats and radical leftist activists continue their push to defund police departments across the country and in a year that violent protests marred a summer of sometimes-peaceful protests that frequently devolved into looting, arson, and violent crime.
In Minneapolis this November, residents will vote on a ballot question that seeks to abolish the police department in Minnesota's largest city and replace it with a new public health agency. And in other major cities, violent crimes continue to spike as police departments are demonized by Democrat elected officials who slash public safety budgets. Law enforcement agencies continue to see officers take early retirement and Wuhan coronavirus vaccine mandates are causing another round of protest resignations in cities where Democrat mayors require vaccination to be a public employee.
The FBI's 2020 crime report is based on data submitted by 15,897 of the 18,619 federal, state, county, city, university and college, and tribal agencies eligible to participate in the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting system.