Why do politicians and media outlets say crime is down while Americans feel less safe than ever? In Part 1 of this two-part series, we expose the hidden truth behind America’s crime statistics, the shocking 44% rise in violent crime, and why most people have never heard of the National Crime Victimization Survey.

You’ll hear about police staffing shortages, the fallout from the defund-the-police movement, and why official numbers don’t tell the full story.

👉 Share this episode to spread the truth about America’s crime crisis.

👉 Subscribe to Heroes Behind the Badge for Part 2, where we explore how these statistics shape public policy, policing, and community safety.

Welcome to Heroes Behind the Badge, the podcast that brings

you the real stories of America's law enforcement professionals.

Today we're diving into one of the most critical issues facing

law enforcement and public safety.

The disconnect between what crime statistics tell us and what Americans

are actually experiencing on the streets.

Our guest is Len Sipes a nationally recognized crime data expert with five

decades in the criminal justice system.

Len has served as a police officer, federal spokesperson, and

award-winning public relations expert.

He's traveled the country teaching law enforcement agencies how to

control their message and get the truth out about what they do.

What Len has discovered about crime statistics will shock you all.

Politicians and media outlets point to declining reported crime rates.

There's another set of data that tells a very different story, one that explains

why Americans feel less safe than ever.

This is part one of our conversation about the hidden truth behind

America's crime statistics.

Let's begin.

You know, we're big into the defund, the police movement screwed

up our nation, crime skyrocketed.

Now we're refunding the police and, um, you know, giving them

the resources they need to do their job, more cops, et cetera.

Um, are, is there data or, or are you, you know, your expertise are, are you in

consistent with that message that we're seeing an uptick in police uh, funding

and more officers, and thus we're seeing now data showing c uh, crime going down.

Is there good data to support that, uh, premise?

Uh, when it comes to data, it's always yes, no, and maybe so.

There is a little bit of evidence indicating that

police hiring is stabilizing.

Um, I did an article, uh, a couple months ago, um, per the, uh, Bureau

of Labor Statistics saying that we were 25,000 cops, uh, actually

police employees, uh, down.

Um, and you know, so we've lost tens of thousands of

police officers in the process.

Um.

I'm getting reports from all over the country as to cities not responding,

uh, to, uh, property crimes, um, taking a long time for police to show

up at, um, violent crime incidents.

Um, we still are hundreds and hundreds of police officers down.

Mm-hmm.

Um.

And in some cases some cities close to a thousand police officers down.

So where there are indications, uh, per data from the

Department of Justice that um,

you take a look at correctional statistics and, and we're now seeing

more people being placed in jail.

Um, correctional numbers are starting to reverse, uh, a long-term decline.

So there's obviously more activity going on now, and I think the system and the

country has taken a bit of a turn, but it's still not where we need to be.

Okay, good.

Okay.

And what we thought.

I was looking Len, uh, at, at your, uh, at your bio

and I guess my question to you, is there anything you haven't done?

You have certainly, uh, you have certainly been well, ex-police officer.

Uh yep.

You are an author.

Yep.

You're a podcaster.

Yep.

You're, uh, you were in the federal system.

You're a retired federal senior spokesperson.

I like that.

Yep.

And most important, you are recognized nationally as a crime data and you're

an award, uh, a crime data expert, i'm sorry, and an award-winning

public and media relations expert.

I love it.

We, we traveled the country.

Um.

When we, when I first did a podcast, um, traveled to country teaching,

um, principally law enforcement agencies, but any government agency,

um, how to do podcast, um, how to do television shows, how to do radio

shows, how to put them on the internet.

We won a slew of awards for that.

Um, what I've been preaching to law enforcement.

Um, agencies is that you now get to control your own message and you

really do need, need to take that very seriously in terms of getting the word

out about what law enforcement does.

Uh, I'm sick and tired of seeing law enforcement being kicked to the canned.

Um, I really am tired of it.

The defund, the police move movement, um, was a pivotal issue for me.

Um, I, I, you know, have a lot of progressive friends.

You, you can't be in government without encountering, um, a slew of progressives.

And, uh, you know, there was a certain tolerance.

I just wrote an article, um, basically saying, uh, just that, that when it came

to the defund, the police movement, um, everything pretty much changed for me.

Um, I knew what was going to happen.

I knew we were going to lose thousands of police officers.

Uh, I've spoken directly to a lot of cops who uh, basically said, that's it.

I'm done.

Um, if you're gonna expect me to go out and risk my life for your benefit

and, and call me, you know, make me out to be less than a human, I'm done.

Sorry, I can go someplace else and make more money.

As you know, uh, Citizens Behind the Badge, which is the sponsor

of this podcast, Heroes Behind the Badge, that is our main goal, is to fight this

defame and defund the police movement because we recognized five years ago,

Craig Floyd called Bill Erfurth and I and said, Hey, we have got to do something.

And Craig, of course, having the credentials as the, uh, CEO

Emeritus of the Law Enforcement Memorial and the museum mm-hmm.

He had the idea and we joined them and five years later, looks like

maybe we're making a little dent, but.

We're making a little dent.

Yeah.

We're making a little dent.

We're not back to where we need to be.

And I'm just not sure that, um, the average police officer out there is

not, um, sometimes reconsidering, um, what it is that they wanted, want to do.

When I was a cop myself, um, there were plenty of instances where I said to

myself, you know, one little move on my part, um, in a very difficult situation

could end up with me in the front page of newspapers throughout the country.

For sure.

Um, that it's impossible to go through years of law enforcement

without making a mistake or coming close to making a mistake.

Um, the society needs to understand that society needs to, I the overwhelming

majority of the cops that I've worked with, um, and I, you know, continue to

work with police officers throughout my career and law enforcement

agencies throughout my career.

You know, it is a difficult job to say the least, and it is almost

impossible not to make mistakes.

It is almost impossible.

Sure.

For sure.

Um, and, and people need to understand that.

I think the overwhelming majority of cops are good, decent human beings who'd

simply want to go home after their shifts.

To their wives and children.

That's all they wanna do.

They're not out there to create problems.

They're not out there to, to harm anybody.

Uh, all you have to do is go along to get along.

It's, it really is just that simple.

No, and again, that's our philosophy.

And, and, and Craig has fought hard, as you know, for most of his adult life.

Yes.

In support of police, but today I think we wanna focus in on some,

I know this bothers all of us, uh, Craig, myself, Bill Erfurth.

We, we are bothered by this, this, I don't know, maybe it's a, a mix up or something.

It seems that when you read the headlines or listen to media, the crime stats

are down and yet they're down three 40.

Crime stats are down, but yet the public.

From what I can see is more fearful than ever of crime.

Yes.

How, Len, you're an expert in this.

How can that be?

Well, look, uh, first of all, the average citizen does

not, and everybody I'm talking to right now, they understand this.

The average citizen does not pay attention to crime statistics.

The average person, what they see, taste, smell, feel, touch, that's

what guides them in terms of whether or not, uh, the, the, they have

a fear or concern about crime.

Right?

Uh, fear of crime, uh, per Gallup is at record levels and there's

multiple other pieces of research that basically says the same thing.

Now, I was on a forum the other day talking about this, and, um, so a young

lady, uh, basically said, uh, people who, who don't get the fact that crime is

down, um, are stupid, they're their fear.

They're stupid for, for how they feel.

Um, you know, I can't imagine anything more insulting, but I've

read dozens of articles from national publications who have essentially

stated, made the same statement.

Now they may not say stupid.

Um, they may use another more politically correct description, but you know, you

have major media out there saying, why the hell can't people understand that crime

is down and their lives are now safer?

You have people out there basically saying we've never lived doing safer times.

Um, I think that's pure malarkey.

Um, you know, I'm not going to be in a position to criticize the average

American in terms of how they feel.

That bothers me deeply.

The other part of it is the National Crime Victimization

Survey, which is 50 years old.

Nobody seems to know what the National Crime Victimization Survey is.

In fact, when I was doing my homework, the

that came up and I've been, yes.

You know, I've been around law enforcement my whole life.

I've supported law enforcement, my daughter's in law enforcement.

I've never heard of that before.

And I'll bet you 99.9% of Americans have never heard of of that.

Could you explain that to us?

Okay.

And why that makes a difference.

So I became, decades ago, the senior specialist for crime

prevention and crime statistics for the Department of Justice's clearinghouse.

And, and when I walked in, um, I sat down with people from the Bureau of

Justice Statistics and say, would you please explain to me what the hell the

National Crime Victimization Survey is?

Yeah.

What is that?

Yeah.

So in any event, it is a 50-year-old survey.

Uh, the United States Department of Census said it is the principle source of

crime statistics for the United States.

It surveys people 12 and over, uh, in a panel design every six months, and it asks

them a very action oriented questions.

It doesn't say.

Have you been robbed?

It's they ask, has somebody taken something from you through

force or threat of force?

Right?

They use very action oriented words, so there's no doubt that the

National Crime Victimization Survey is far more accurate than the FBI

crime statistics, far more accurate.

That's interesting.

When you have 38%, which is recent US Department of Justice Data,

38%, we're talking about cities now.

38% of violent crimes being reported to law enforcement in urban areas.

The overwhelming majority of what it is that people are getting in

terms of reported crime statistics, um, is, is a huge under count.

So to make a long story short.

We've just had a 44% increase in rates of violent crime through the National

Crime Victimization Survey for the last two major reporting periods.

Did you say 44%?

44%.

It is the highest, i've been studying crime statistics for decades, and it

is the highest increase in violent crime that I've ever encountered.

Wow.

Undoubtedly, 44%.

Part one of our eye-opening conversation with crime data Len Sipes.

As you've heard, there's a massive gap between the crime, statistics,

politicians use and what's actually happening in America's communities.

Next.

In part two, we'll explore how this statistical manipulation

affects real policy decisions.

Why the media isn't telling the whole story and what it means for the

future of law enforcement in America.

You can find more of Len's research at analysis@crimeinamerica.net.

His work is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what's really

happening with crime in our country.

If you believe in supporting our nation's law enforcement officers, visit

us at Citizens Behind the Badge.org to sign our declaration of support.

Follow us on social media and share this episode.

The Truth About Crime Statistics needs to be heard.

Remember, our law enforcement officers are doing their jobs with fewer

resources and less support than ever.

They deserve the truth to be told about the challenges they face

and the critical role they play in keeping our communities safe.

Join us next for part two of our conversation with Len about the hidden

truth behind America's crime crisis.