15 Facts About the Growth of Crime in the United States That Will Blow Your Mind

(End of the American Dream)—We live in a high crime society.  Nobody can dispute that fact, and it has been this way for a long time.  But the crime wave that we have witnessed in recent years has been truly breathtaking.  Tens of thousands of gangs are running wild in our major urban areas, and the growth of those gangs has been supercharged during the past four years thanks to the reckless border policies of the Biden administration.  Now we have rampant lawlessness in our streets, and it certainly isn’t going to be easy to clean up this mess.  The following are 15 facts about the growth of crime in the United States that will blow your mind…

#1 The number of shoplifting incidents per year in the United States is up 93 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels…

The average number of shoplifting incidents jumped 93% in 2023 compared with pre-pandemic times and monetary losses for retailers have risen 90%, according to the nation’s largest retail trade group.

With its “Impact of Retail Theft & Violence 2024” study, the National Retail Federation (NRF) is highlighting the severity of this issue. For instance, despite the continuous efforts by retailers to combat such crimes and a growing number of states that have updated their laws to prosecute organized retail crime as felonies, the number of retail theft incidents continues to climb.

#2 Bakersfield, California is the car theft capital of the country…

Bakersfield is a city with less than half a million people, making it the 9th most populous city in California. It also has the distinction of having the most car thefts of any U.S. city.

#3 Denver, Colorado is closing in on Bakersfield very quickly.  In fact, the car theft rate in Denver increased by 37 percent in just one year…

Denver is the capital and most populous city in Colorado which incidently made the NICB’s hot spot list for the top state by number of auto thefts. Not only did Denver experience 964 thefts per 100,000 residents, but the theft rate increased by 37%. As with most places, Kia and Hyundai vehicles make up a large percentage of those cars stolen.

#4 When it comes to car theft, Pueblo, Colorado only ranks third, but a 47 percent increase in just one year has it climbing the chart fast…

Well south of Denver and with a much smaller population, the city of Pueblo takes the third spot on our list. The city experienced auto theft at a rate of 891 per 100,000 residents. Additionally, the theft rate increased by a whopping 47% in one year. Pueblo police cite driver apathy as a reason behind the record levels of theft.

#5 According to the FBI, more than 14 million crimes are reported in the United States each year…

The FBI released detailed data on over 14 million criminal offenses for 2023 reported to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program by participating law enforcement agencies. More than 16,000 state, county, city, university and college, and tribal agencies, covering a combined population of 94.3% inhabitants, submitted data to the UCR Program through the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and the Summary Reporting System.

#6 There are more than 1.9 million people sitting in our prisons…

Further complicating matters is the fact that the U.S. doesn’t have one criminal legal system; instead, we have thousands of federal, state, local, and tribal systems. Together, these systems hold over 1.9 million people in 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 142 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as in military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories — at a system-wide cost of at least $182 billion each year.

#7 The U.S. has the largest prison population in the world by a very wide margin.  We have approximately 5 percent of the world’s population, but we have approximately 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated population.

#8 According to the FBI, 33,000 criminal gangs are operating inside the United States today…

Some 33,000 violent street gangs, motorcycle gangs, and prison gangs are criminally active in the U.S. today. Many are sophisticated and well organized; all use violence to control neighborhoods and boost their illegal money-making activities, which include robbery, drug and gun trafficking, prostitution and human trafficking, and fraud. Many gang members continue to commit crimes even after being sent to jail.

#9 Collectively, it has been estimated that those gangs have about a million members.

#10 Gangs account for about 80 percent of the violent crimes that are committed in the U.S. each year.

#11 In 2023, there were 127,436 rapes reported in the United States.

#12 For the most recent year that we have data, it was being estimated that more than 550,000 U.S. children “were victims of abuse and neglect”…

An estimated 558,899 children (unique incidents) were victims of abuse and neglect in the U.S. in 2022, the most recent year for which there is national data.

#13 If you can believe it, there are 795,000 registered sex offenders in this country.

More than 795,000 people were listed on state sex offender registries as of August 2024. This is about 8,000 more people than in 2023.

#14 There are 75,710 registered sex offenders in the state of Texas.

#15 There are 60,615 registered sex offenders in the state of California.

What in the world is wrong with us?

What would cause people to behave this way?

At this point, our society is literally teeming with evil.  In my brand new book entitled “Why”, I take a look at the root causes that motivate people to do what they do.  It isn’t an accident that our society has gone completely and utterly nuts.  It is simply a result of cause and effect.

As a society, we have been doing the wrong things for a very long time, and so now we have a giant mess on our hands.

Let us hope for better things in 2025, because right now lawlessness is thriving all around us.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.