*Background: Significance of this issue.
-Important Political Issue. Concern about violent crime is a key political issue. According to the Pew Research in a report published in October of 2002, political candidates around the United States released thousands of ads focusing on violent crime this year, and most registered voters see the issue as very important in the upcoming November midterm elections.
Around six-in-ten registered voters (61%) say violent crime is very important when making their decision about who to vote for in this year’s congressional elections. Violent crime ranks alongside energy policy and health care in perceived importance as a midterm issue, but far below the economy, according to the Center’s October survey.
Republican voters are much more likely than Democratic voters to see violent crime as a key voting issue this year. Roughly three-quarters of Republican and GOP-leaning registered voters (73%) say violent crime is very important to their vote, compared with around half of Democratic or Democratic-leaning registered voters (49%).
It is expected that concern about crime will continue to be an important political issue even if the actual crime rate does not increase.
*Talking Points
- No Increase in Violent Crimes
- Biden Increased Funding of Police
- Violent Crime Higher in Red States and Some Red Cities
-No Actual Recent Increase in Violent Crimes.
Annual government surveys from the Bureau of Justice Statistics show no recent increase in the U.S. violent crime rate. In 2021, the most recent year with available data, there were 16.5 violent crimes for every 1,000 Americans ages 12 and older. That was statistically unchanged from the year before, below pre-pandemic levels and far below the rates recorded in the 1990s, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey.
For each of the four violent crime types tracked in the survey – simple assault, aggravated assault, robbery and rape/sexual assault – there was no statistically significant increase either in 2020 or 2021.
-Biden Increases Funds for Police
As President Biden said during his 2023 State of the Union Address, “We should all agree the answer is not to defund the police. It’s to fund the police. Fund them with the resources and training they need to protect our communities. In August 2022 President Biden announced his Safer America Plan that provide details on making America safer. It calls for funds for the police and promotes effective prosecution of crimes affecting families today, including by funding 100,000 additional police officers. It also invests in crime prevention and a fairer criminal justice system, including by investing $20 billion in services that address the causes of crime and reduce the burdens on police so they can focus on violent crime. President Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget requests a fully paid-for new investment of approximately $35 billion to support law enforcement and crime prevention – in addition to the President’s $2 billion discretionary request for these same programs. The Safer America Plan details how this $37 billion will be used to save lives and make communities safer. To read the White House fact sheet on how the 2023 budget request makes America safer, click here.
-Violent Crime Higher in Red States and Some Red Cities
-Violent Crime Higher in Red States and Some Red Cities. A report on crime published in March of 2022 by the Third Way organization, shows that violent crime is higher in states that voted for Trump.
- In 2020, per capita murder rates were 40% higher in states won by Donald Trump than those won by Joe Biden.
- 8 of the 10 states with the highest murder rates in 2020 voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election this century.
- Sometimes, murder rates are highest in cities with Republican mayors. For example, Jacksonville, a city with a Republican mayor, had 128 more murders in 2020 than San Francisco, a city with a Democrat mayor, despite their comparable populations. In fact, the homicide rate in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco was half that of House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s Bakersfield, a city with a Republican mayor that overwhelmingly voted for Trump.
To read the report entitled, The Red State Murder Problem, click here.
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