New FBI stats show 'historic' declines in violent crime rate, with murder showing sharpest drop

The latest FBI statistics point to a "historic" drop in crime in the first quarter of this year, Attorney General Merrick Garland says.

And this, after a year in which the murder rate fell at one the fastest rates ever recorded, a top criminologist added.

"This should be good news for everybody," criminologist Jeff Asher, who analyzed the FBI numbers, told NBC News. "But it's also early June and the trend of the nation's crime rate is always uncertain."

The rate of violent and property crimes dropped precipitously in the first three months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, according to quarterly statistics released Monday by the FBI known as the Uniform Crime Report.