Random Musings: FBI crime stats are out, and crime is down. So whatever will Rs campaign on?

Oh, who am I trying to kid? They're pretty notorious - when the facts don't agree with their preferred talking points, they simply ignore the facts.

From ABCNews -

Murders down 11.6% in US as crime remains key election issue
Murders in the United States were down 11.6% in 2023, according to statistics released by the FBI Monday morning.
The murder rate went down from 6.2 per 100,000 people in 2022 to 5.7 per 100,000 people in 2023.

From the FBI's press release on the topic -

FBI Releases 2023 Crime in the Nation Statistics
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.
The FBI’s crime statistics estimates, based on reported data for 2023, show that national violent crime decreased an estimated 3.0% in 2023 compared to 2022 estimates:
Murder and non-negligent manslaughter recorded a 2023 estimated nationwide decrease of 11.6% compared to the previous year.
In 2023, the estimated number of offenses in the revised rape category saw an estimated 9.4% decrease.
Aggravated assault figures decreased an estimated 2.8% in 2023.
Robbery showed an estimated decrease of 0.3% nationally.

The FBI's Crime Data Explorer is here.

AZDPS' stats are here.

A couple of AZ-specific items, courtesy the FBI -