Crime today is so much more different than the crimes committed in the older days. The way you go on trial has changed, the way you think before committing a crime, and even the way you commit the crime has changed. The “why” for most crimes have not changed though, ranging from racism, sexism, and even just general hate towards a person or group has not changed.
So then why does one of the biggest crimes you can commit, sharply decrease? Council on Criminal Justice notes, “Examining trends over a longer period, violent crimes are at or below levels seen in 2019, the analysis found. There were 25% fewer homicides in 2025 compared to 2019, with rates dropping in 27 of 35 cities in the sample.” Even St.Louis had a decrease in homicides by -11%.
Most people perceive St.Louis as this terrible city, almost comparable to DC’s Gotham City, but to the residents here St.Louis is a beloved city. Another statistic provided by St.Louis-MO.gov states that “Violent crime was down across the board, including a 36% decrease in burglaries, 42% decrease in auto thefts, and 53% decrease in shooting incidents.” Most people on social media think of St.Louis as this gang-filled place, full of shootings, and criminals. But this statistics could really shift the reputation or stereotype of St. Louis.
My guess for the significant decrease of homicides would be social media, as it plays a big part in everyone’s lives, and also the spread of information going against criminal activities. The youth of today are leaning towards doing the right thing, and I think we need to celebrate that. But of course, the full reason can’t possibly be determined from just an opinion. Emily Owens, a Deans’ professor of Criminology and Economics at the University of California, also has an idea as well.
She said from CCJ, “The consistency of the homicide decline, both across cities and over time, makes me inclined to think this has to do with larger social movements, temporarily disrupted by COVID-19 when the world turned upside down, than with any one particular thing one particular city might be doing.”
I agree a lot as well, people’s day-to-day life has been definitely disrupted, and I think that people’s kind of facing a crisis or dilemma of what to do with themselves after the huge shift for everyone after COVID-19. FBI director Kash Patel also wanted to add that his program had a big effect on this overall decrease, “Media gymnastics can’t hide the reality that this administration brought law and order back, and Americans are safer because of it,” he said in a post on X.
I think what people need to worry about right now is how to keep the down trend consistent. If we can keep crime down, the government as a whole can worry more about the other, increasingly worse problems in the US, such as inflation, and the national debt increasing every day. But overall, the crime trend decreasing, has been very gratifying especially with the state of the world right now.
