In America, the number of minors charged with crimes is increasing

Last year, nearly 10 percent more juveniles in the U.S. were charged with violent crimes compared with 2022, and nearly 30 percent more were arrested for property crimes during the same period, according to new data released by the FBI on Monday.

However, according to the agency, the number of violent crimes involving people of all ages has declined over the same period.

The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program released the FBI's 2023 data, covering over 14 million documented crimes. The information was provided by more than 16,000 participating law enforcement agencies.

According to the FBI's annual Summary of Crime in the Nation, the number of suspects in violent crimes who were younger than 18 increased from 31,302 in 2022 to 34,413 in 2023. Last year, 73,332 property crimes in which juveniles were charged were reported, compared to 56,674 in 2022, according to the new data.

In a recent opinion column for Newsweek, Liz Ryan, director of youth justice and crime prevention, wrote that while increases in certain categories of crime require action and justice, it is crucial to look at youth crime in a broader context.

“We should never ignore or dismiss delinquent behavior among young people, but we should address it with effective, evidence-based, and promising interventions. Accountability is needed, as are compassion, support, and access to services,” Ryan wrote.

When reached by Newsweek A spokesman for the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program said by email on Monday that the new juvenile crime data would not be interpreted by the FBI. [UCR] The program collects and publishes data voluntarily reported by law enforcement agencies.”

Overall, violent crime fell an estimated 3 percent in 2023 compared to 2022, the FBI report said, indicating a continued downward trend after the surge during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, homicide and manslaughter fell by nearly 12 percent.

Violent crime has become a central issue in the 2024 presidential campaign, in which former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, will face Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in November.

During the presidential debate between the two candidates this month, Trump was grilled by ABC News anchor David Muir when he claimed that crime rates were “through the roof” but were falling in the rest of the world.

“President Trump, as you know, the FBI says that violent crime overall in this country is actually going down,” Muir said, after which Trump claimed the FBI statistics were “false statements.”

Violent crime skyrocketed in the early years of the pandemic. Homicides rose nearly 30 percent in 2020, the largest single-year increase since the FBI began tracking these statistics. Experts have cited a number of factors for the increase, from economic stress to disruptions caused by the pandemic to escalating gun violence.

By 2022, the crime rate began to stabilize. FBI data from 2023 shows that the violent crime rate fell from 377 incidents per 100,000 people in 2022 to 364 per 100,000 in 2023. This is close to pre-pandemic levels, according to the FBI, and indicates a possible return to relative normality.

The collective UCR data cover 94.3 percent of the population and are reported through the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and the Summary Reporting System.

Monday's FBI report came after the first three months of this year saw a “historic” drop in violent crime and murder rates across the country, according to FBI statistics from June. Some analysts who previously Newsweek say that the numbers don't tell the whole story.

John Lott, president of the nonprofit, right-wing Crime Prevention Research Center, who briefly served in the Department of Justice (DOJ) under Trump, previously said Newsweek that the FBI statistics are incomplete at best.

“That's only a small part of the problem,” Lott said. “The reason we have the National Crime Victimization Survey (an annual survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice) is because we know that most crimes go unreported to the police.”