Background Data

D.C. crime levels and rates

The truth about District of Columbia crime is hiding in plain sight. The Metropolitan Police Department posts its most recent data on this page. The rest of the crime data, going back to 1961, are inside MPD’s annual reports on this page. Their not-entirely-accurate “Crime Cards” database is on this page.

The reality is, based on the police department’s own data, violent crime in D.C. is down 7 percent from 2021 to 2022, down 40 percent since 2015, down 50 percent since 2008, and down 77 percent since 1993. Property crime is also down 25 percent since 2015. These numbers are indisputable.

Spreadsheets

For a PDF listing all available official totals for violent crime and its subcategories since 1989, click here. For all, property crime and its subcategories since 1989, click here. For all annual totals that can be obtained from the MPD “Crime Cards” database, click here.

Graphs

For a PDF showing numbers of violent crimes, 1992-2022, with a graph, click here. For a PDF showing rates of violent crimes, 1992-2022, with a graph, click here. For a graph showing both violent and property crimes, 2015-2022, click here. For data from the National Crime Victimization Survey conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, with a graph, click here.