Violent crime dropped significantly across the United States and the North Texas region over the past year, according to new data released by the FBI. The agency’s 2025 Crime in the Nation Report recorded approximately 1.1 million violent crimes nationally, representing a 9.3% decrease compared to the previous year.
North Texas mirrored that national trend with a 9% overall decline in violent crime. Specific categories showed notable improvement, including a 12% drop in murders, a 13% reduction in robberies, a 7% decrease in sexual assaults, and an 8% decline in aggravated assaults.
Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge Joe Rothrock attributed the progress to stronger collaboration between federal and local law enforcement agencies. He pointed to several targeted operations as key drivers of the improvement.
One major effort was Operation Red Card, a joint initiative aimed at violent offenders across dozens of cities in North and East Texas ahead of the FIFA World Cup. Rothrock said federal prosecutions tied to the operation ranged from narcotics and firearms violations to robberies and kidnappings.
The FBI also expanded its presence in high-crime areas of Fort Worth through Operation Safe Neighborhood. A separate statewide initiative called Operation Soteria Shield involved 90 agencies and resulted in 270 arrests along with the rescue of more than 80 child victims.
Rothrock acknowledged that the statistics have limitations. Not every law enforcement agency in the country participates in the FBI’s reporting program, meaning the figures represent an estimate based on data submitted by roughly 17,000 of the nation’s more than 19,000 agencies.
“This is a good representative sample of the really significant decrease we have seen in violent crime across the nation” Rothrock said.
The FBI chief also confirmed that his office has increased coordination with immigration enforcement agencies over the past 18 months as part of broader efforts to identify violent offenders. When pressed on whether he agrees with President Trump’s assertion that the crime decline is directly linked to the administration’s immigration crackdown Rothrock stopped short of endorsing that position.
He said the partnership with immigration agents is focused specifically on identifying individuals driving violent crime in local communities and that the collaboration would continue as long as it proved effective as a tool against violence.
