In the past year we have been seeing a lot of news stories stating something like this:  "More Americans believe crime is up in their city, but public perception doesn't always match reality."

However, is the problem really public perception?  Or is it the manner in which crime data is being collected?  The FBI's data collection is generally considered the most complete and accurate look at crime in the US and is referenced consistently by the media and by political leaders, but what if that information is now unreliable?   

In January 2021, the FBI officially switched data collection methods from the Uniform Crime Reporting database to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).  This was done right before Joe Biden entered the White House. The NIBRS system requires agencies to submit more detailed data, which has caused the transition to the new system to be slow. In 2021, only 63% of law enforcement agencies submitted NIBRS data to the FBI.

There is still no complete data released for 2020-2022, making it difficult to gauge the true increase or decrease in overall crime in the past few years.  For example, some large police departments began to report data to the FBI again in 2022, like the Miami-Dade Police Department. But the two largest police agencies in the U.S., the New York Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department, are still missing in the federal data.

The FBI plans to finally release a full crime report with all data included before the elections in 2024, though, it would not be surprising if this information was withheld until after elections conclude.