Headline Roundup • October 17th, 2024
FBI Quietly Revises 2022 Data, Showing 4.5% Rise in Violent Crime
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The FBI revised its 2022 crime data to show that violent crime rose by 4.5% in 2022. The figure stands in contrast to the “final” figure the FBI reported in September 2023, which suggested violent crime fell by 2.1%.
The Details: The change was reported by RealClearPolitics (Center bias), which said it “discovered the change through a cryptic reference on the FBI website that states: ‘The 2022 violent crime rate has been updated for inclusion in CIUS, 2023.’” In the linked report, there is no mention that the numbers increased. RealClear reported that the only way to see the change is “by downloading the FBI’s new crime data and comparing it to the file released last year.”
For Context: The FBI did not mention the updated figure in its September 2024 press release. After this press release, which suggested violent crime declined about 3% in 2023, many outlets across the spectrum covered the news.
How the Media Covered It: The story was covered widely by the right, and scantly by the center. AllSides did not find coverage from the left. RealClear described the FBI as having “been at the center of partisan storms.” Straight Arrow News (Center bias) described “the issue of violent crime in the United States” as “politically charged.” Fox News (Right bias) reported speaking to a Biden administration official who said the FBI “often adjusts crime estimates as more data is reported.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
RCI
When the FBI originally released the “final” crime data for 2022 in September 2023, it reported that the nation’s violent crime rate fell by 2.1%. This quickly became, and remains, a Democratic Party talking point to counter Donald Trump’s claims of soaring crime.
But the FBI has quietly revised those numbers, releasing new data that shows violent crime increased in 2022 by 4.5%. The new data includes thousands more murders, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults.
The Bureau – which has been at the center of partisan storms – made no...
AP/Jacquelyn Martin
The Federal Bureau of Investigation quietly updated its 2022 crime data to show an increase in violent crimes, despite previous data showing violent crimes had fallen that year, which was touted as a victory for the Biden-Harris administration.
"For some reason, the media, they did pick the crime data that they think goes and makes the Democrats look as good as possible. And then even when the crime data that they've relied on turns out by the very source of that data to be wrong, none of them fix it," John...
Getty
The FBI has revised its 2022 crime data, initially reporting a 2.1% decrease in violent crime. The updated figures now reveal a 4.5% increase. The revision includes 80,000 more incidents of violent crime than previously reported, with an increase of 1,699 murders, 7,780 rapes, over 33,000 robberies and 37,000 aggravated assaults. This new data was released without a formal announcement, with the FBI noting only on its website that the 2022 violent crime rate had been updated. The discovery of these changes was first highlighted by John Lott, an American...
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