Violent crime in American cities has increased by 40 percent from 2019 to 2023, according to the latest National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).
The survey annually questions roughly 230,000 US residents whether or not they have been a victim of a crime, the nature of the crime that occurred, and if it was reported to law enforcement. The most recent survey found a significant rise in individuals reporting that they were victims of violent crime during President Joe Biden’s tenure.
Despite claims from government officials and the mainstream media suggesting otherwise, the 2023 NCVS report found no evidence that violent or property crime is decreasing, according to Jeffrey H. Anderson, the former director of the BJS from 2017 to 2021 in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal. The 2023 report found that violent crime, excluding simple assault, which is least likely to be charged as a felony, rose by 19 percent from 2019 to 2023.
The survey indicated that crime is escalating more rapidly in urban areas. Violent crime in cities increased by 40 percent over the four-year period, and when simple assault is excluded, the rate jumps to 54 percent. Urban property crime also surged, with a 26 percent rise from 2019 to 2023. In 2023 alone, there were 192.3 property-related victimizations per 1,000 households.
Meanwhile, violent crime rates in suburban and rural areas have remained relatively stable since 2019. This growing disparity between urban and rural crime rates may be linked to more lenient law enforcement policies adopted in US cities following the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.
“Since the summer of 2020, when many cities adopted lax law enforcement policies, the US has experienced a huge urban crime spike. The newly released figures don’t show this urban crime spike abating,” said Anderson.
