A study conducted by The Marshall Project and Vox reported that serious violent crimes—such as aggravated assault and murder—increased, according to an analysis of crime rates in 27 major US cities by the Council on Criminal Justice, a criminal justice think tank and a preliminary crime report published by the FBI earlier this month which showed similar trends nationwide. However, other kinds of crime, including violent crime overall, have decreased so far this year. The report by the Council on Criminal Justice found that “Homicide rates between June and August of 2020 increased by 53% over the same period in 2019, and aggravated assaults went up by 14%.” Citing data from crime analyst Jeff Asher, Vox found that murder is up by 28 percent throughout the year so far, compared to the same period in 2019, in a sample of 59 US cities. A preliminary FBI report also found murders up 15 percent nationwide in the first half of 2020. The Washington Post reported that since 2000, there had been a steady downward trend in crime overall. But, while violent crime has trended downward, there have been times when it has risen. On average, the annual change from 2001 to 2009 was a 1.7 percent drop. From 2009 to 2017, it was 1.6 percent. In 2017 and 2018, it was 2.1 percent. The decrease in violent crimes started before President Trump assumed office in 2017. While there has not been a sharp spike in violent crimes in his tenure, there has not been a significant drop either that can be credited to his administration.
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