FBI Stats Show Plunge in Violent Crime, But There's a Catch

The first three months of 2024 saw a "historic" drop in rates of violent crime and murder across the country, according to newly released FBI statistics — but the numbers don't tell the whole story, some analysts say.

Data released by the FBI on Monday showed violent crime incidents dropped 15% between January and March this year compared to the same period in 2023.

John Lott, the president of the nonprofit right-leaning Crime Prevention Research Center who held a brief role in the Dept. of Justice under former President Donald Trump, told Newsweek that the FBI statistics are incomplete at best.

"It's just a small portion of the issue," Lott said. "The reason why we have the National Crime Victimization Survey [an annual survey conducted by the DOJ] is because we know most crimes are not reported to police."