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The findings come as crime has become a central issue for the administration, with President Donald Trump continuing to argue that aggressive federal intervention is needed in cities he says are plagued by violent crime. Over the past year, Trump has deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and authorized similar deployments in other metropolitan areas such as Memphis, framing the moves as necessary to restore public safety.
Researchers tracked 13 categories of crime and found declines in nine, including aggravated assault, carjacking, and residential burglary. Residential burglaries fell 13% from a year earlier and were down about 50% compared with 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Shoplifting, domestic violence, sexual assault, and drug offenses all recorded modest increases from the first half of last year, though drug offenses remained below pre-pandemic levels.
SECRET SERVICE WARNS OF RECORD THREAT LEVEL AHEAD OF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ ASSOCIATION DINNER REDO
Not every city followed the national trend. About one-third of cities studied recorded increases in homicides, including Norfolk, Virginia, and San Francisco. Still, only Norfolk, Austin, Pittsburgh, and Minneapolis reported more homicides this year than during the same period in 2019, underscoring the broader decline in lethal violence nationwide.
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