Why the US had a violent crime spike during Covid — and other countries didn’t

It’s not every day that you see officials touting crime trends just as summer begins. Summer is typically when violent crime increases, and no one wants to celebrate a win before half-time’s over.

This year has been different.

In June, the FBI released preliminary quarterly data for January to March 2024 that shows violent crime rates continuing to decline from their pandemic peaks. In the first months of this year, the data suggest that violent crime fell by 15 percent, with murder falling by more than 26 percent, compared to the same period in 2023.

“Violent crime is dropping at record levels in America,” President Joe Biden said in a statement trumpeting the FBI’s estimates. “Americans are safer today than when I took office.”