By the end of 2025, the United States experienced what appears to be the largest single-year decline in homicides on record, according to preliminary nationwide data.

Figures compiled from more than 550 law enforcement agencies indicate murders fell by roughly 20% compared with 2024, surpassing previous year-over-year declines. While final federal crime statistics have not yet been released, analysts say the scale of the drop is unprecedented in modern American crime reporting, occurring alongside a shift toward more aggressive federal law enforcement intervention.

Despite the national improvement, violent crime remains heavily concentrated in major metropolitan areas, many of which are Democrat-run and have historically struggled with high crime rates. According to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, in the first half of 2025, 2,800 homicides were committed in major cities. While cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Baltimore are seeing progress, they started from a baseline of extreme violence. For instance, Chicago’s homicide rate is down 30% this year, but this follows years of rampant bloodshed that peaked in 2021. Furthermore, certain Democrat-led cities have bucked the national trend entirely; Atlanta, Columbus, and Philadelphia reported increases in categories like rape, robbery, or aggravated assault, highlighting the persistent volatility in these jurisdictions.

President Donald Trump has moved aggressively to combat this urban crime through a series of decisive executive actions and federal surges. Upon taking office in January 2025, the administration prioritized public safety by restoring the federal death penalty for those who murder law enforcement and reinstating the 1033 Program, which provides local police with “unfettered access” to surplus military equipment. The administration also established Homeland Security Task Forces in all 50 states to dismantle gangs and drug trafficking networks.

A centerpiece of this strategy was the declaration of a “crime emergency” in Washington, D.C. In August 2025, the president deployed the National Guard and federal agents to assist local police, essentially taking operational control to stabilize the capital. Local officials have credited this federal “force multiplier” with helping D.C. reach its lowest homicide count in eight years.

By combining these tactical surges with the “Ending Crime and Disorder” initiative—which targets the root causes of urban instability like open-air drug use—the administration has sought to impose a national standard of safety. As the year ends, the “law and order” approach is being cited as a primary driver in ensuring that the historic decline in violence is not just a temporary fluctuation, but a permanent restoration of safety.

In a viral video, a Maine school board member confronted the board after he learned students could be suspended for referring to their classmates by their biological sex rather than their chosen gender identity.

Josh Tabor, who was elected as a write-in candidate for the North Berwick section of the Maine School Administrative District following his two-week campaign, had the following exchange with members of the school board:

Tabor: Just for clarification, is this the policy that’s used: if a student misuses a pronoun, they are suspended?

School board member: An intentional, yeah, that’s part of the definition of bullying.

Tabor: So if I raise my daughters to, if the person is a female, appears to be a female, to use she pronouns, and that student says, “no, I want to be something else” will my child be suspended for that?

School board member: Oh, yeah. That would be harassment.

Tabor: When I heard that students are being suspended because they are using the wrong pronoun, I was aghast. I didn’t realize that. … One is biological facts, it’s actually XX chromosome, XY chromosomes. Those are facts. We can’t change those. It doesn’t matter what our opinion is. We can’t change those things.  Those are immutable facts. And I’m wondering…my question is, are we suspending students for immutable facts? That’s what I’m asking.

School board member: Not for making a genuine mistake. If someone is doing sort of what you’re sort of doing here, and sort of trying to attack somebody because you don’t agree with it, that’s very different and I think that’s what they’re talking about is, I’m going to keep saying it, because I know it bothers you, then yes, this policy should apply.

Tabor: I think that you are out of line by assuming that I am attacking anybody.

School board member: Then I don’t know what you mean.

Tabor: I’m asking a general question.

School board member: I think it’s been answered. I think if you accidentally do it, and somebody corrects you, fine, it’s not an issue.

Another board member:  I mean, think about the other kids. So what is your goal here? That they’re allowed to be dead-named?

Tabor: I do not believe it is harmful to speak the truth.

School board member: You don’t think it’s harmful to be called something you don’t identify with?

Tabor:  I don’t think it’s harmful to speak the truth.

Students are being suspended in Maine schools for not using preferred pronouns

Berwick and Lebanon Maine Schools confirm the suspension policy

“Just for clarification, is this the policy that's used if a student misuses a pronoun, they are suspended?”

“An intentional, yeah”… pic.twitter.com/m5ThmvsnWl

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) January 1, 2026

This is concerning. @CivilRights has been investigating similar policies in other jurisdictions as well. https://t.co/Wp6pkqzn9q

— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) January 1, 2026

Tabor explained in another forum what prompted him to run for the board:

I had a conversation with my dad. He said, “Are you going back into education?’ I said, “Hell, no. That place is a viper pit. All they do is ruin everything they touch.” I firmly believe that, and I’m in it still.

This is what my father said to me; wise words from a very wise man. He said, “Josh, you’re a firecracker; you’ve been a firecracker your whole life. I want you to think about the effect a firecracker has on the outside of a box: It makes a loud bang and a little small mark; you can have an effect from the outside. But I want you to think about the what a firecracker does if it’s on the inside of the box.”

“And I went, ‘Damn, Dad.’ Because he was right.