President Joe Biden, on Wednesday, lauded significant declines in crime rates across the U.S. last year during a White House meeting with police chiefs from major cities which had witnessed sharp increases in homicides and violent crime amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event presented Biden with an opportunity to counter criticism from Republicans who utilised the spikes during the COVID era to depict Democrats as soft on crime.
“Last year, the United States had one of the lowest rates of all violent crime in more than 50 years,” Biden informed top police officials from cities including Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Detroit, Buffalo, New York; Milwaukee, Charlotte, North Carolina; and DeKalb County, Georgia.
In an electoral jab at Biden’s Republican predecessor and probable rival in 2024, Donald Trump, the White House highlighted that the United States had witnessed the largest ever increase in murders in 2020, at the onset of the pandemic.
Violent crime rates experienced a sharp decline last year, including a 12% reduction in homicides nationally from 2022 to 2023, according to a crime analysis by AH Datalytics, after a surge in the initial two years of the pandemic.
Biden attributed the drop to the American Rescue Plan, a COVID relief measure supported solely by Democrats, which helped bolster investment in city policing at a time when budgets were under strain.
Detroit and Chicago each allocated over $100 million towards public safety initiatives, encompassing the recruitment of new officers and the expansion of mental health community violence interventions and youth intervention programmes.
Chicago witnessed a 13% decrease in homicides, while Detroit saw an 18% drop in 2023, it was reported.
Philadelphia focused on group-violence intervention and community crisis intervention, resulting in a 20% reduction in homicides and a 28% decline in nonfatal shootings last year, the White House disclosed.
“We discovered that we could utilise this funding to maintain law enforcement presence, ensuring communities are safeguarded against violence,” Biden remarked.
According to the latest FBI statistics, violent crime decreased in 2022, while property crimes surged.
Murder and non-negligent manslaughter declined by 6.1%, and rape by 5.4%, while larceny and motor vehicle theft increased by 7.8% and 10.9%, respectively, as per the agency’s national crime report released in October.
The administration also underscored initiatives targeting gun violence, emphasising Biden’s ongoing call on Congress to enhance gun safety laws.