The Numbers Are In

The FBI's preliminary crime data for 2025 shows the single largest decline in violent crime and murder since 1937.

FBI Director Kash Patel announced the figures in an internal weekly update, then followed with a public statement. "The 2025 crime data shows the single largest decrease in violent crime and murder since 1937 — as well as huge decreases across the board in terms of aggravated assault, rape and robbery," Patel said, according to the Baltimore Sun's Sinclair National Desk report published May 20, 2026.

What the Data Shows

The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program pulled data from 17,075 law enforcement agencies — 2.4% more than participated the year before — covering roughly 96% of the American population, according to the American Journal Daily.

Here's the breakdown:

• Violent crime overall: down approximately 9.3%
• Murders and non-negligent manslaughter: down more than 18%
• Aggravated assaults: down more than 7%
• Rapes: down roughly 7.6%
• Robberies: down an estimated 18.5%
• Property crime (burglaries, car theft, arson, larceny): down 12.4%

That translates to roughly 1.1 million fewer violent crimes than the prior year.

A violent crime still occurred every 28.2 seconds. A murder every 37.3 minutes. So no, America isn't crime-free. But the trajectory is dramatically better.

The Trend Continues

The decline persisted into 2026. A quarterly report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association shows violent crime continued falling through the first three months of 2026, across 67 major police jurisdictions, according to the American Journal Daily.

Patel's Claims and Limitations

Patel is crediting FBI reforms under the Trump administration. "Over the last 14 months, we made major transformations at the FBI, and these results show those changes are working," he said in his public statement, per the Baltimore Sun.

Preliminary data has methodological limitations. These numbers aren't the final, fully verified annual crime report. Changes in reporting practices, gaps in data, or shifts in agency participation can affect year-over-year comparisons.

The sample size — 17,075 agencies covering 96% of the population — is substantial enough to suggest the trend is real. Crime trends are driven by policing decisions at the local level, prosecutorial priorities, economic factors, and demographics. The FBI doesn't single-handedly move national crime rates in 14 months.

Media Coverage Patterns

Coverage has split along predictable lines.

Breitbart and Fox News covered the story prominently. Fox News reported homicides specifically fell more than 18%, consistent with Patel's internal memo.

Left-leaning outlets that spent years covering crime spikes under Trump's first term have been slower to apply similar coverage intensity to a nearly 90-year record decline. The "defund the police" movement dominated mainstream coverage from 2020 onward, with several major cities pulling resources from law enforcement and progressive district attorneys in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles drawing national attention. The coverage asymmetry is notable.

Other FBI Actions Announced

Patel's update included other law enforcement actions:

• 15 subjects indicted in Minnesota for over $90 million in alleged healthcare fraud — the two largest Medicaid fraud cases ever charged in that district, including schemes targeting an autism program
• The $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud case, in which Aimee Bock received a nearly 42-year prison sentence
• The capture of fugitive Camron Lee in Mexico
• Charges against a former managing assistant U.S. Attorney connected to Jack Smith's investigation of Trump, accused of stealing government documents using her personal email and concealing them with fake labels

Some items — particularly those involving Smith-era prosecutors — carry political implications. The legal process should be allowed to proceed.

The Crime Data

The FBI's preliminary 2025 crime data represents the most significant drop in violent crime in nearly a century. The sample is large. The categories are broad. The trend is continuing into 2026.

Credit for crime reduction is complex — law enforcement, local prosecutors, policy changes, and economic conditions all contribute. Multiple stakeholders deserve acknowledgment.

The facts: 1.1 million Americans were not victims of violent crime in 2025 who would have been in the prior year. Regular people are safer.