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Home / Reports / State of the Union / Crime & Justice

Crime and justice

In 2022, the violent crime rate fell for the second consecutive year, down to 380.7 per 100,000 people. The property crime rate increased for the first time since 2001, up 6.7% to 1,954.4 per 100,000 people.

The increase was due mostly to rising larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft.

Crime and justice

For the first time in two decades, larceny-theft crime rates increased (up 7.4%) in 2022.

The FBI defines larceny-theft as the unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another (except for vehicle theft, which it measures separately). The crime rate for motor vehicle theft increased the most (10.5%) compared to other property crimes, while burglary decreased for the 11th consecutive year.

Crime and justice

In 2022, violent crime rates per 100,000 people decreased across all types of crimes, except for robbery.

Robbery rates rose nearly 1% after decreasing for five years. Homicide rates fell by 7.4% between 2021 and 2022, the largest drop in any of the FBI’s violent crime categories.

Crime and justice

Federal, state, and local governments spent $282.1 billion on law enforcement and corrections in 2021 — the most since at least 1980 (after adjusting for inflation).

However, per-capita law enforcement and corrections spending was highest in 2009 when governments spent $874 per person, compared to $850 in 2021.

Crime and justice

By 2022, the number of police officers per 100,000 people had fallen 8.9% from its 2009 peak.

The United States had 908,210 police officers in 2022, accounting for 6.1% of all state and local government full-time employees.

The FBI has limited the available use-of-force data until law enforcement participation in data collection reaches 80%. In 2023, agencies employing 68% of the nation’s federal, state, local, and tribal sworn officers provided use-of-force data. The most common use-of-force incidents involved a firearm; hands, fists, or feet; or a taser.

Crime and justice

Nearly 5.6 million people were in prison, jail, or on probation or parole when counted in 2021, though an estimated 6.9 million were admitted to jail throughout the year.

The correctional population per 100,000 people remains 15% lower than in 2019. Although probation and parole data is not yet available for 2022, the prison population per 100,000 people grew 1.7% after declining for 14 consecutive years and the jail population increased 3.8%.

Crime and justice

The share of state prisoners whose most serious offense, as defined by the FBI, was a drug crime has declined annually since 2007.

This share dropped 7.1 percentage points between 2004 and 2021. The share of prisoners whose most serious offense was assault increased the most compared to other crimes, rising 4.2 percentage points over the same time. Eighty-seven percent of prisoners in the US were held in state prisons.

Crime and justice

The firearm death rate dropped to 14.5 deaths per 100,000 people in 2022, but remained higher than any year from 1999 to 2020.

Firearm suicides increased in 2022, but this increase was offset by a decrease in firearm homicides. Preliminary 2023 data shows suicides accounted for 56% of firearm deaths and homicides accounted for 41%.

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