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Nationwide 2024 Crime Data Demonstrate the Value of Violence Prevention and Local Law Enforcement [1]

['Chandler Hall', 'Nick Wilson', 'Rachael Eisenberg', 'Senior Constituency Media Associate', 'Director', 'Media Relations', 'Senior Director', 'Federal Affairs']

Date: 2025-08

On August 5, 2025, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released crime data confirming that the overall rates of violent and property crime in the United States declined in 2024, recording the lowest property crime rate and lowest violent crime rate since at least 1969 . * These data support a trend of sustained and historic declines in the nation’s crime rate since 2022.

The FBI’s 2024 Reported Crimes in the Nation Statistics report is based on data reported to the Uniform Crime Reporting Program through the National Incident-Based Reporting System and the Summary Reporting System, covering crime reported between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024. The FBI received data from 16,675 agencies through the UCR program, representing more than 325 million people across the United States, 95.6 percent of the population served by all agencies eligible to participate in the UCR program.

Effective strategies have made communities safer

Progress in 2024 followed the first major gun reform bill passed by Congress in more than 30 years—the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The BSCA made historic investments in violence intervention strategies and improved commonsense gun laws across the country by closing loopholes in the gun purchasing background check system, establishing federal criminal offenses for straw purchasing and trafficking, addressing dating violence loopholes, supporting implementation of extreme risk protection orders, and funding a 21st century pipeline of mental health professionals.

Jurisdictions that have experienced some of the most significant decreases in their gun victimization rates since 2021 have invested in violence reduction strategies that emphasize coordination with and investment in community-based organizations and can include improved data sharing practices and additional funding for community violence intervention (CVI) programs. CVI programs connect individuals at the highest risk of being involved in violence with resources and services to stop violence before it starts. Evaluations of CVI models consistently show that CVI programs are one of the most effective tools to interrupt cycles of violence. These gains were made possible because of vital federal funding support from ARPA, BSCA, and CVIPI grants.

The latest FBI data also estimate small increases in the rates at which murder, violent crime, and property crime are solved, known as clearance rates. After falling to a historic low of 49.4 percent in 2021, the clearance rate for murder increased to 61.4 in 2024 but has not surpassed pre-COVID rates. Cities such as Houston and Garfield Heights, Ohio, spent federal ARPA funds on new technology and on hiring police investigators and analysts to solve more crimes. While recent increases in clearance rates are encouraging, far too many crimes go unsolved in cities and rural areas alike, enabling many people to avoid accountability for the harm they cause. Cities should follow the lead of cities such as Boston, which increased its homicide clearance rate by 19 percentage points by hiring additional detectives and leveraging data and technology, and Denver, which increased its nonfatal shooting clearance rate from 39 percent to 65 percent in the first seven months after establishing a specialized unit dedicated exclusively to solving nonfatal shootings. BSCA also contributed to reductions in gun crimes by giving law enforcement additional tools to stop illegal gun trafficking, preventing individuals convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence from possessing firearms, expanding background checks, and investing in CVI programs.

Conclusion

The FBI’s 2024 Reported Crimes in the Nation Statistics report confirms that 2024 was another year of historic declines in the nation’s murder rate, violent crime rate, and property crime rate. There is also mounting evidence that these positive trends have continued in communities across the country in the first half of 2025. This progress is remarkable, yet fragile.

Instead of doubling down on commonsense gun safety reforms, providing support to local law enforcement, and investing in the programs that have been shown to reduce crime in their communities, the Trump administration is putting the safety of communities across the country at risk. In April, the Trump administration terminated grants from the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs, including CVIPI grants, rescinding an estimated $500 million from programs working to prevent crime and improve public safety every day. President Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposes $2.7 billion in cuts to DOJ, including $545 million to the FBI, $468 million to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, $112 million to the Drug Enforcement Administration, and $823 million to state and local grant programs. The Trump administration is pulling valuable law enforcement resources from addressing serious crime to supercharge Trump’s cruel and chaotic immigration agenda, rounding up people who have been in the country for decades and are contributing positively to their community. These cuts to public safety agencies and programs are not based on the evidence of what makes communities safer and instead undermine the ability of both federal and local law enforcement to investigate and solve crimes. The actions of this administration could jeopardize the hard-fought safety gains made over the past three years.

Correction, August 6, 2025: This article has been corrected to reflect that the FBI crime data show only the lowest property crime and violent crime rates—not the lowest murder rate—since 1969.

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[1] Url: https://www.americanprogress.org/article/nationwide-2024-crime-data-demonstrate-the-value-of-violence-prevention-and-local-law-enforcement/#:~:text=On%20August%205%2C%202025%2C%20the,a%20trend%20of%20sustained%20and

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