What the data says about crime in the U.S.
Federal statistics show dramatic declines in U.S. violent and property crime rates since the early 1990s.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Federal statistics show dramatic declines in U.S. violent and property crime rates since the early 1990s.
The number of federal prisoners sentenced to more than a year behind bars decreased by 5% between 2017 and the end of 2019.
Attitudes vary considerably by race on issues including crime, policing, the death penalty, parole decisions and voting rights.
St. Louis led the nation with 66.1 murders per 100,000 people in 2017. It was followed by Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
Given the wide range of people we speak to for our polls – and the issues we ask them about – it’s important to be as clear as possible about exactly who says what. In research circles, this practice is sometimes called “defining the universe.”
Among the challenges U.S. police officers perceive on the job is a widespread feeling that police are mistreated by the media.
In 2015, 47% of the violent crimes and 35% of the property crimes tracked by the Bureau of Justice Statistics were reported to police.
Read an interview with Senior Editor Rich Morin and Senior Research Methodologist Andrew Mercer, who were involved in our groundbreaking police officer survey.
On some subjects, racial differences among the police are considerably more pronounced than they are among the public as a whole.
Just five states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Missouri and Texas – accounted for all 20 executions in the U.S. in 2016.
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