Not long ago, crime analysts were sounding alarms about what they called a “new normal” — a sustained period of higher violent crime across the United States. That concern now appears to have faded, as the country’s murder rate edges closer to breaking an all-time record low.
The turnaround represents a striking shift in the national conversation around public safety. Experts who had braced for long-term elevated homicide figures are instead watching the data trend in the opposite direction.
While concerns about violent crime surged in recent years, the latest figures suggest the country may be on the verge of reaching its lowest murder rate ever recorded.
