(ConservativeFreePress.com) – A group of independent law enforcement experts and analysts, led by former assistant FBI director Mark Morgan and attorney Sean Kennedy, has released a report criticizing the FBI’s 2023 violent crime statistics as underrepresentative of actual crime rates. Their analysis, titled “Assessing America’s Crime Crises: Trends, Causes, and Consequences,” suggests that crime in major U.S. cities has escalated due to factors like decreased policing, reduced incarceration, leniency in prosecution, and the politicization of the criminal justice system.
The report indicates a public safety crisis with elevated crime levels and a faltering justice system, challenging the perception of declining offenses as reported in preliminary 2023 FBI data. It argues that, despite a statistical decrease, crime rates remain substantially higher than those recorded in 2019.
Researchers argue that the FBI’s data is misleading and incomplete, highlighting a significant discrepancy between reported crime rates and the reality in American cities, particularly after the 2020 societal unrest. They note changes in how crimes are classified by police departments, impacting the perception and reporting of violent crimes.
The report also points to a reluctance among businesses and individuals to report crimes, influenced by skepticism about police responsiveness and judicial outcomes. This trend, combined with potential discrepancies in how crimes are categorized by law enforcement, raises concerns about the accuracy of official crime statistics.
Furthermore, the researchers criticize the FBI’s reliance on inferred statistics to fill gaps in unreported data, emphasizing a decline in reporting rates among police departments, with major cities like Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago not submitting data in recent years.
The FBI, when questioned, did not comment on the report but noted the voluntary nature of the crime data submission process through the Uniform Crime Reporting program.
Recent revelations from the New Orleans Police Department about under-reported sex crime data, along with past findings of downgraded crime reporting in Los Angeles, underscore concerns about the reliability of official crime statistics.
The report concludes that the rise in crime rates is partially attributable to lenient criminal justice policies, with some states now reconsidering and tightening legislation on violent crimes, reflecting a shift from previous soft-on-crime approaches.
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