Despite feelings of crime increasing, data from cities across the US indicate murder rates fell at record pace this year

Major cities across the United States are expected to report significant drops in murder rates this past year to numbers not seen since before the pandemic, indicating violent crime is not as prevalent in the country as some believe.

According to data from cities and towns across the country, compiled by AH Datalytics, murder rates this year had one of the fastest rates of decline on record at approximately 12.8 per cent.

“Americans tend to think that crime is rising, but the evidence we have right now points to sizable declines this year (even if there are always outliers),” Jeff Asher, the co-founder of AH Datalytics said in a Substack post.

Cities often thought of as dangerous – Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Baltimore, St Louis, San Francisco and more saw a sharp reduction in murder rates.

  • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Crime is such click bate in local social media. It gets engagement in community groups and on Nextdoor. I swear, it’s all the damn recommendation algos push.

    If that’s all you see in your feed, yeah, you’re going to feel like the world is coming to an end.

    • AnneBonny@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      10 months ago

      2023 was the second worst year ever for mass shootings in the US.

      It was not the worst year ever.

      The United States has faced 649 mass shootings so far this year, making it the second-worst year for shootings in the nine years since the Gun Violence Archive began recording data

    • thrawn@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I… guess it’s better than the inverse…? Bleak state of affairs in the states when we’re picking and choosing which form of killings we want

    • agitatedpotato@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Mass shooting coverage sells and until we get comprehensive mental health and a good healthcare system people are going to continue to take up the mass shooter mantle like they used to pick up the serial killer mantle. The only thing that changed is these people stopped thinking they could get away with one at a time and are more willing to certianly throw their life away, so they make it some kind of grand finale.

      • Chaotic Entropy@feddit.uk
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        10 months ago

        Sadly, the spectacle of mass shooting coverage also somewhat appeals to the sort of person who would be open to the idea of committing one.

  • StarrWulfe (JLGatewood)@social.vivaldi.net
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    10 months ago

    So is it just mass shootings in the top places for murders overall going down or just in general or…

    I certainly *feel* like I didn’t see as many in the news this year but then again 1/4 of the year has been consumed by a mass genocidal rampage half a world away and its definitely sucking up all the media attention…

      • StarrWulfe (JLGatewood)@social.vivaldi.net
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        10 months ago

        @agitatedpotato yeah, no doubt those are factors indeed, especially the mental health one.
        Wife made a succinct point at how much more stressful life in the States is in general with regard to the “keep up or die” lifestyle we have here and I feel it’s a major contributor.

        Miss one paycheck or slip on a bar of soap in the shower and wind up with a $20000 hospital bill and cause several years of worry and paranoia (as an example). Other places in the world don’t have to deal with that, hence they also don’t have the mental illness rates we do
        (Again simple example for a complex variable just for illustration purposes; don’t flame pls 😉)

  • Chaotic Entropy@feddit.uk
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    10 months ago

    It benefits certain people for everyone to feel like their world is crashing down and needs to be saved by someone.