FBI: Violent crime down 1.7% in 2022; murders, rapes, aggravated assaults declined

Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Violent crime nationwide in 2022 was on the decline with murders, rapes and aggravated assaults all showing drops, according to the FBI's annual crime report.

The FBI report released Tuesday, said violent crime decreased an estimated 1.7% compared to 2021. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter recorded a 2022 estimated nationwide decrease of 6.1% compared to the previous year, wiping out a 4.3% increase in murders in 2021.

The report said rape fell an estimated 5.4% with aggravated assault tumbled 1.1% over the same period. Robbery, though, increased 1.3% from 2021.

In 2022, law enforcement said it saw 11,634 criminal incidents and 13,337 related offenses being motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity.

There were more than 11,000 single-bias hate crime incidents involving 13,278 victims and 346 multiple-bias hate crime incidents that involved 433 victims. The top three bias categories in 2022 in single-bias incidents were race/ethnicity/ancestry, religion, and sexual orientation.

The new FBI report detailed more than 11 million criminal offenses reported to its Uniform Crime Reporting program.

This follows a 2021 report that showed a 1% decrease in violent crime despite an increase in murders.