WCVB, September 2025
President Donald Trump has cast a spotlight on crime in several cities across the United States. Washington, D.C., was the first target when, in early August, Trump deployed National Guard troops to crack down on crime. Now, the president has said Baltimore and Chicago are next. “(Washington, D.C.,) serves as a template, and we’re going to do it elsewhere,” Trump said in a Sept. 2 news conference.
As Trump centers crime in the national conversation, there are limits to what experts can and cannot say with crime statistics. The FBI publishes some of the most complete statistics, but no database can perfectly capture the nation’s crime. One of the FBI’s crime measurement resources is the National Incidents-Based Reporting System. It contains data on all crimes reported to participating local law enforcement agencies. NIBRS can only provide information on crimes brought to police, but not all crimes that occur are reported. Research shows that sexual assault is often underreported, and cases of petty crime like minor theft may not always be officially brought to the police.
The data also depends upon reliable entries from local law enforcement agencies. When an agency first adopts NIBRS, there may be errors as it becomes accustomed to the new system. Ernesto Lopez, senior research specialist at the nonpartisan Council of Criminal Justice, said that while errors are a concern for researchers, there is no good tool to detect them outside of major discrepancies. He said that while they do occur, they are not necessarily nefarious.
