2025 policing trend: Fewer serious crimes, more minor arrests
A new report from FWD.us reveals that U.S. arrests for low-level crimes like vagrancy and drug possession rose in 2025 despite historic lows in violent crime. Experts warn this signals a return to punitive 'law and order' policies reminiscent of the 1980s and 90s, disproportionately impacting vulnerable populations.
Why it matters
Increases in low-level arrests can permanently disrupt lives and families through job loss and incarceration, highlighting a contentious shift in modern criminal justice policy.
Arrests for low-level crimes, including vagrancy and drug possession, rose in the U.S. from 2024 to 2025 even as rates of violent crime including homicide plummeted to historic national lows , according to a new analysis of federal data from the criminal justice and immigration reforms advocacy group FWD.us.
Zoë Towns, the executive director of FWD.us , spoke to NPR ahead of the report's release on Wednesday.
"This increase signals a really troubling return to some of the extreme law and order policies that defined the American criminal justice system during the 80s and the 90s," Towns said, referring to the era's tough-on-crime policies , including mandatory minimum prison sentences , that led to a massive rise in incarceration in the U.S. for decades.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in