There is new data out that show the number of murders in this country is declining rapidly.

Crime was, of course, a central focus of the presidential election,

with President-elect Trump portraying crime as out of control,

and a majority of Americans believe that crime is increasing.

William Brangham is here with a look at what the numbers tell us. William?

Nick, data collected from hundreds of law enforcement agencies

show the murder rate dropped 16 percent compared to last year. In San Francisco, homicides have

fallen by a third. Chicago recorded its lowest number of murders since 2019. And rates of other

crimes also fell. Car thefts declined by roughly 20%. For a closer look at what this means, we are joined by crime data analyst Jeff Asher. He's the co-founder of A.H. Datalytics and creator of the real-time crime index.

Jeff Asher is so good to have you on the program. When you look at all of this data that you analyzed, what stood out to you the most?

I think the scope of the decline in murder stands out, certainly.

Right now we have over 300 cities worth of data through October showing murder down 16%.

Last year, the FBI had murder down 12%. For some context, the largest one-year

decline ever recorded prior to last year was a 9% decline in 1996. So it's not just that we're

seeing a decline in murder. It's not just that we're seeing murder relatively returning to where

it was pre-pandemic,

but we're seeing by far the fastest one-year declines last year and then again this year.

And it's been a phenomenal trend to be able to follow.

What is your understanding as to what is the most plausible explanation for what is driving this decline?

I think the most plausible explanation is a combination of, one, just sort of everyday life,

getting back to normal, the stresses specific to the pandemic going away. And two, a lot of the

tools that we would ordinarily use, both policing and non-policing,

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