PHILADELPHIA – As U.S. police departments release preliminary or finalized 2024 crime numbers, many are reporting historic declines in homicides and drops in other violent crimes compared to 2023.
In many parts of the country, though, those decreases don’t match the public perception.
Experts say most cities are seeing a drop in crime levels that spiked during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. But they say misleading campaign rhetoric in the runup to the November elections and changes in how people interpret news about crime have led to a perception gap.
“The presence of even one murder has a great cost,” said Kim Smith, the …