CNN panel clashes over whether crime is down after new FBI report: 'So much better than it used to be'

A CNN panel clashed over whether violent crime was truly down after newly released FBI data found violent crime had declined in 2023.

"This was also going to be something that [former President] Trump wanted to run on [Vice President Kamala] Harris against, but the statistics are what they are," CNN host Abby Phillip told the panel about the report on Monday.

According to the FBI, violent crime incidents fell by 3% in 2023. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter specifically dropped 11.6% and rapes decreased by 9.4% in the past year. Over 16,000 agencies across the country contributed crime data to the FBI, Reuters said. 

Former ESPN host and The Atlantic contributor Jemele Hill argued that most people feel like crime is "out of control," despite the data.

CNN HOST ADMITS IT ‘DOESN’T FEEL LIKE CRIME IS DOWN,’ DESPITE FBI STATISTICS

CNN panel clashed on whether crime is up or down, after FBI report released Monday says violent crime went down in 2023. (CNN/screenshot)

"Vibes very much contribute to how people feel about issues. Whether it be real or imagined. The reality is, in most people's minds they feel like crime is out of control," Hill said. 

She then referenced her hometown of Detroit as a prime example that backed up the FBI's findings about violent crime.

"Detroit was always in the top three of being one of the most murderous cities in America. Six, seven hundred murders a year, easy. It's maybe half that now," she said.

Detroit's population has declined, she conceded, but said that "the approach to safety is so much better than it used to be."

"But unfortunately, between social media and people passing around violent videos all the time, no matter what those statistics say, I still think it roots in people's minds that crime is just out of control. And I think we're much safer as a society today than we were when I was growing up," Hill argued.

BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN SAYS CRIME IS DOWN, BUT INDEPENDENT DATA SHOWS VIOLENT CRIME UP ACROSS 66 CITIES

Officers stand behind police tape seen at the scene of a shooting at Shed 6 at Eastern Market in Detroit, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024.  (Robin Buckson/Detroit News via AP)

However, Republican strategist Erin Perrine claimed that the FBI statistics "leave room for questions," pointing to past years when homicide data from major cities like Los Angeles were not reported in the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System.

"Those major cities now, are reporting their crime statistics," Philip interjected. "All the major cities, any city with over 1 million people, those police departments reported these statistics. In some past years, they reported them, but the FBI did not include them because of a reporting issue."

"But if you look in the report, they talk about the past trends, they include that data now from those past years. The trend is still going down, so crime is going down," she argued.

Perrine pushed back, arguing that crime data from Washington, D.C. showed murder was up 35% and robbery was up 67% in 2023.

"Crime is still an issue" in major cities, she argued.

In separate statements on Monday, President Biden and Vice President Harris hailed the FBI report, touting their administration's funding for public safety in the American Rescue Plan as contributing to the reported decline in violent crime.

"Today’s new data submitted to the FBI confirms that our dedicated efforts and collaborative partnerships with law enforcement are working; Americans are safer now than when we took office," the vice-president's office said.

President Biden and Vice President Harris released statements hailing their administration's work to reduce crime, after data submitted to the FBI found violent crime had declined in 2023. (Tierney L. Cross)

A Department of Justice study released earlier this month came to the opposite conclusions, finding that violent crime has surged under the Biden-Harris administration.

Crimes such as rape or sexual assault, aggravated assault, and robbery increased from 2020 to 2023, the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics revealed in its National Crime Victimization Survey. Across the board, the survey found total instances of reported violent crimes increased from 5.6 per 1,000 individuals aged 12 and over in 2020, when Trump was still in office, to 8.7 per 1,000 in 2023. 

Fox News' Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Kristine Parks is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Read more.