Reported homicides, rapes, robberies and assaults dropped last year in 69 major cities, the Major Cities Chiefs Association reported on Friday. The compilation by the police chiefs' group largely mirrors similar surveys by other organizations. Annual reports from the FBI and Bureau of Justice Statistics will not be published until later this year.
The chiefs said that homicides in the reporting cities wre down to 7,789 last year from 8,695 in 2022. Rape reports fell to 28,478 from 31,050, robberies to105,800 from 105,885, and aggravated assaults to 280,316 from 288,162. The report necessarily provided an incomplete picture of crime totals because it did not include the many offenses not reported to police. The National Crime Victimization Survey, which includes estimates of crimes not reported to police, said that violent crime in the U.S. rose in 2022 compared with 2021.