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Homicides in the U.S. increased 4.3% in 2021 compared to the previous year and presented the highest ratio per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 25 years, the FBI reported Wednesday.
Although the number of homicides and murders increased 29.4 percent from 2019 to 2020, last year’s nearly 22,900 murders and homicides lead to a rate of 6.9 per 100,000 people, which is the highest murder rate in a quarter-century, according to the FBI.
However, the data is partial, as the police departments of cities such as LA and NY and the counties of Los Angeles and Phoenix have not yet submitted their records.
This year, the FBI changed the way it collects crime data from local police departments and, as a result, 40% of police departments are absent.
However, the rate of armed robbery decreased by 8.9% from 2020 to 2021, which contributed substantially to the decline in overall violent crime, which was 1%, despite increases in homicides and rapes, the annual report notes.
The Brennan Center for Justice indicated in an analysis of the report that with so many agencies failing to submit their information about 2021, the annual crime report will have significant potholes.
It will probably be impossible to talk about an accurate ‘national’ homicide rate, or an accurate ‘national’ violent crime rate in 2021.
To reach the figures in this report the FBI used national estimates which means, for example in the case of homicides, that they may have increased in 2021 by more than 4.3% or they may have decreased.
According to data released Wednesday, property crimes decreased last year by 3.8% and rapes increased by 3.4%.
In addition to the annual crime report, the FBI and the CISA, in a joint statement expressed confidence that any attempts to manipulate votes on a large scale will be detected and thwarted.
