10 Alarming Facts About Increased Crime at Dollar General Stores

Edward Turner, 38, was recently arrested for a series of robberies in Michigan. Dollar General Corporation operates a staggering 19,643 stores in the U.S. and Mexico. Originally named J.L. Turner and Son in 1939, the store transformed into Dollar General in 1955 and went public in 1968. The company reported revenue around $27 billion in 2019 and ranks among companies in the Fortune 500 list.

Turner now faces multiple charges after police found evidence at his home, including the firearm used in the crimes. Turner is being held at the Berrien County Jail with a $250,000 bond, and legal proceedings are ongoing.

In this gallery, we look into the rise in crime across the U.S. in recent years.

Violent crime has reportedly risen across the U.S. since 2020, challenging politicians’ claims of declining rates. A Department of Justice study revealed increases in rape, aggravated assault, and robbery from 2020 to 2023.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that violent crimes increased from 5.6 per 1,000 people in 2020 to 8.7 in 2023, with a peak of 9.8 in 2022. The National Crime Victimization Survey confirmed a 55.4% rise in violent crimes during this period.

Crime remains a major concern for voters, trailing only economic and immigration issues. Former President Trump linked rising crime rates to illegal immigration, while Vice President Harris faced criticism for supporting bail-fund efforts.

The FBI reported a 15.2% drop in violent crime in early 2024, but critics noted this data only covers reported crimes. FBI data is notably limited by non-mandatory local reporting. The FBI came under heavy criticism after quietly revising data from 2022, exposing a significant change.

Crime Prevention Research Center founder John Lott stated, “To give people an idea of the size of the change, when the 2022 data came out in September 2023, they initially reported that violent crime had fallen by 2.1% in 2022.… That’s the final data, supposedly, for 2022.”

Lott added, “The revision of that final data that came out last month, now claims that rather than the 2.1% drop, that there was actually a 4.5% increase in violent crime that occurred in 2022. That’s a 6.6 percentage point change there.”

Experts like Lott consider NCVS data more reliable than FBI data due to its comprehensive nature. “When David Muir goes and says the FBI shows that crime is down, that’s not what the FBI is measuring,” Lott said.

Lott stated, “What the FBI measures is that reported crime went down, and that’s a big difference between total and reported crime. We know most crimes aren’t reported to the police.”

Lott added, “And the rate that people report crimes to the police depends in part on things like whether they think the guys are going to be arrested or not.”