President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime in Washington, D.C. continues a decades-long American story: Data says crime is going down, even as many Americans feel like it’s spiraling out-of-control.
FBI data has shown the nation's crime rate declined over the past three decades, but over half of Americans have said they believe there is more crime than the year before in nearly every Gallup survey conducted since 1993.
"People don't keep track of these things. They don't look at statistics...They're just having feelings that they're not safe," said Howard Lavine, a professor of political science and psychology at the University of Minnesota.
Safety is a real concern for many.
Violent crime still occurs every day at rates that can vary widely between and within cities, which can affect the public's perception of their safety, according to Alex Piquero, a professor at the University of Miami and the former director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
