The latest crime data from the FBI gathers information from both national and state level agencies.According to the latest report, violent crime in Kentucky increased by 2% from 2022 to 2023, but some areas of crime saw major declines.Studying the four main types of offenses: Homicides dropped by 16.2% Rapes declines by 9.7% Robberies increased by only 0.1% Aggravated assault increased by 7.2%Poring over the data, Ashley Spalding at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy said, There is not a violent crime surge happening in Kentucky right now, there's just no evidence in the data for that.The work of Spalding and her colleagues aims to better inform policy-makers and the public through sound research and data.She pointed to the latest data from the FBI to explain why their work is so important.We hear a lot of lawmakers talk about violent crime, we see a lot of headlines, and a lot of times, people say theres a crime surge and we should all be afraid, said Spalding.Yet, according to the numbers, Spalding emphasized that Kentucky is not experiencing a surge in violent crime.The states 2023 violent crime rate is 58% lower than in 1992, and still significantly lower than during the pandemic.When stacked up against the national average, Kentuckys violent crime rate last year was 40% lower.Are there areas where Kentucky can improve? Sure, and we can keep an eye on that, but we need to make sure that these conversations we have on public safety and crime are grounded in facts, said Spalding. The reason this takeaway is so important is because we see legislation being created based on false claims about crime.With the upcoming legislative session less than two months away, Spaldings team is busy compiling all the data they can, hoping to better inform lawmakers of the facts as new policies are brought forward.We just want to make sure that those conversations are grounded in facts, that people know what the data actually says," Spalding said.