20 Year Decline

Often I hear people talk about the increasing crime rate. The problem is that for the past 20 years over all crime rates have been dropping.

More graphs.

Yes, our crime rate remains higher than most of the first world, industrialized countries. And, yes, localized crime rates vary. For example, Chicago's murder rate has climbed over the last couple of years. The overall trend is clear though. The U.S. is a safer society than it was a few decades ago.