Presumably we check in with the FBI. If their statistics, however problematic, are not “the facts” then I do not know what is. Here is the one paragraph of their latest annual report (yes, a one year lag).
09/28/15 Today, the FBI is releasing the 2014 edition of its annual report Crime in the United States, a statistical compilation of offense, arrest, and police employee data reported voluntarily by law enforcement agencies that participate in the Bureau’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. This latest report reveals that the estimated number of violent crimes reported by law enforcement to UCR’s Summary Reporting System during 2014 decreased 0.2 percent when compared with 2013 data. And the estimated number of property crimes decreased 4.3 percent from 2013 levels.
Michael Kevane 