Who Commits the Most Crime in America? (The Data Might Surprise You)

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 This episode breaks down FBI arrest data to explain what those numbers actually measure — and what they don’t. We compare raw arrest totals with per-capita rates, unpack how policing and enforcement patterns influence crime statistics, and examine how media narratives shape public perception.

👇 Drop your answer in the comments: Who do you think commits the most crime — and why?

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
And now in tune to the sound of the Only One Might
Podcast, I'm your host, CarlGerrod.
Let's open up this conversationwith a question.
Who do you think commits themost crime in the United States?

(00:23):
All right, really think aboutthis point.
Because most people believe theyhave an answer, and most didn't
get it from looking at theactual data.
They got it from headlines,social media, and gut reactions.
Now let's look at some of thereal numbers from the most
recent FBI crime data.
In 2024, of all violent crimearrests in the United States,

(00:47):
about 49.7% were of peopleidentified as white.
46% were of people identified asblack or African American.
2.2 were Asian, 1.8 wereAmerican Indians and Alaska
Natives, and 0.3 were NativeHawaiian or Pacific Islanders,
and this is according to FBIarrest statistics.

(01:09):
Those numbers show raw totals,meaning absolute counts of
arrests, not rates per person.
And here's the key nuance.
If you measure by populationrate per 100,000 people, the
story can look very different.
For example, research on violentcrime like aggravated assault
shows that white individualsaccounted for the majority of

(01:30):
arrests in raw numbers, and thatwas about 61.4%.
But when adjusted perpopulation, black or African
American individuals havesignificantly higher arrest
rates per 100,000 peoplecompared to white individuals,
and that's by way of globalstatistics.
So let me ask you a deeperquestion.

(01:51):
When someone says somethinglike, you know, uh this group
commits more crime, do they meanmore total incidents, more
arrests, more per 100,000people?
Because those are threedifferent measurements.
And if we go further, arrestsdon't necessarily mean crimes
were committed.
They reflect where police arepatrolling, who they stop, who

(02:14):
gets charged, and lawenforcement priorities.
And one part almost nobody talksabout, most violent crime
happens between people of thesame race.
That means people are generallyharmed by someone who lives in
their community and looks likethem, not some monolithic other
group.
So instead of trying to likeanswer a question of who does

(02:36):
the most crime as a racialcompetition, maybe the real
question is why do we framecrime as a racial scoreboard
instead of a social problem?
And this isn't about defendinganybody, it's about
understanding how data works andwhy numbers without context can
mislead.
And also, we also know thatthrough media, um, the bias

(02:57):
that's involved in media willfocus on people of color more
than it would, you know, ourwhite counterparts or any other
minorities.
Well, I can't even say any otherminorities because there are a
lot of others that are gettingflaked, but you know, African
Americans get it the hardest interms of how we're portrayed in

(03:17):
media.
So who do you think commits themost crime in the U.S.?
And more importantly, why do youthink that?
Drop it in the comments y'all.
Call in whether you agree ordisagree.
Again, I always say I'm not hereto tell you what to think, I'm
just laying out the laying outwhat's here.
So if you disagree, if you havemore information to add on to
this, I would love to hear fromyou.

(03:39):
Because, you know, truth doesn'tcome from silence, it comes from
conversations like these guys.
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(04:03):
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Your comment could actually makeit on the show, folks, but we
appreciate you as always.
And again, tap in on this.
Who do you think commits themost crime in the U.S.?

(04:25):
Do you think these statisticsare false?
Do you think that, you know,some of the FBI is fudging these
things?
I don't know, guys.
But I do, you know, reach out toyou for your opinion on this.
The only one Mike Podcast on andoff, peace.