Violent crime across the U.S. decreased last year — dropping to about the same level as before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — but property crimes rose substantially, according to data in the FBI’s annual crime report released Monday.
The report comes with an asterisk: Some law enforcement agencies failed to provide data. But a change in collection methods in compiling 2022 numbers helped, and the FBI said the new data represents 83.3% of all agencies covering 93.5% of the population. By contrast, last year’s numbers were from only 62.7% of agencies, representing 64.8% of Americans.
Violent crime dropped 1.7%, and that included a 6.1% decrease in murder and non-negligent manslaughter. Rape decreased 5.4% and aggravated assault dropped 1.1%, but robbery increased 1.3%. Violent crime had also decreased slightly in 2021, a big turnaround from 2020, when the murder rate in the U.S. jumped 29% during the pandemic that created huge social disruption and upended support systems.
I remember reading an article about a mom who was caught shoplifting nail polish and hairspray at a big chain store. Apparently, she could ‘return’ the items for $25 in store credit, which she could use to buy her Type 1 daughter’s insulin. I don’t see anything now.
That’s also the older type of insulin that can be harder to manage than the modern insulin analogues. Not to mention the cost of lancets, test strips, syringes/needles for pens, etc. Ugh this country sucks.