Newly released data from the Department of Justice (DOJ) supports former President Donald Trump’s assertions that violent crime has spiked under the Biden-Harris administration.
The data, compiled by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and published last week, paints a contrasting picture to claims from the White House and media outlets that crime rates have been declining.
The data reveals that violent crime rates remained elevated throughout 2023, with 22.5 of every 1,000 U.S. residents reporting being the victim of a violent crime.
This marks a stark difference compared to the final year of Trump’s presidency in 2020, when the violent crime rate was significantly lower.
Property crime also remains high, with 102.2 of every 1,000 residents reporting incidents in 2023, again reflecting a steady rise under the current administration.
John R. Lott Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, highlighted these findings as clear evidence that violent crime has increased by 37% during the Biden administration, whereas it fell by 17% under Trump.
“The new DOJ data clearly shows that violent crime is up under Biden and Harris, contradicting the narrative of falling crime rates,” Lott said.
During the debate between Trump and Harris, crime became a key point of contention. Trump remarked, “Crime is through the roof,” only to be fact-checked by ABC’s David Muir, who cited FBI data that claimed overall violent crime was decreasing.
However, the FBI’s crime data has come under scrutiny, with critics pointing out that it only captures reported crimes and suffers from incomplete reporting by law enforcement agencies.
In fact, less than half of police departments provided complete data to the FBI in 2022.
The DOJ’s National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which is based on self-reported instances of crime, offers a more complete view by accounting for crimes that may not have been reported to police.
The NCVS showed a rise in several categories of violent crime between 2020 and 2023. Aggravated assaults increased by 55% under Biden, while robberies rose by 63%, and rapes saw a 42% spike.
In addition to violent crimes, stranger violence and crimes involving weapons also saw notable increases.
Stranger violence rose from 8.1 incidents per 1,000 people in 2019 to 11.4 per 1,000 in 2023. Similarly, crimes involving weapons jumped from 4.0 per 1,000 people in 2019 to 5.3 per 1,000 in 2023.
The discrepancy between the FBI’s data and the DOJ’s victimization survey has fueled debate over how crime statistics are measured.
John Lott explained that the significant drop in law enforcement officers in major cities like New York has likely contributed to the decrease in crimes reported to the FBI.
“Less policing leads to fewer reported crimes, but that doesn’t mean crime is actually down,” Lott argued. He stressed that the public is more concerned with overall crime, not just what gets officially reported to the FBI.
Trump seized on the DOJ data during a press conference in California, stating, “This data proves what I’ve been saying all along — crime is rampant under Biden and Harris.”
Trump’s campaign also reiterated its stance, pointing to the DOJ’s findings as evidence that the Biden administration’s policies are failing to keep Americans safe.
“Crime rates remain WAY UP under Kamala Harris — throwing a dagger straight through the heart of claims to the contrary by Democrats and their Fake News allies,” Trump’s campaign said in a statement.
The data’s release has sparked calls for accountability.
Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt demanded an apology from ABC’s David Muir for his on-air correction of Trump’s crime claims during the debate.
“This new data proves President Trump was right,” Leavitt said. “If Americans want to feel safe again, they should vote Trump in 2024.”
The DOJ data comes as crime continues to be a top issue for voters heading into the next election cycle.