President Donald Trump has cast a spotlight on crime in several cities across the United States.

Washington, D.C., was the first target when, in early August, Trump deployed National Guard troops to crack down on crime. Now, the president has said Baltimore and Chicago are next.

“(Washington, D.C.,) serves as a template, and we’re going to do it elsewhere,” Trump said in a Sept. 2 news conference .

As Trump centers crime in the national conversation, there are limits to what experts can and cannot say with crime statistics.

The FBI publishes some of the most complete statistics, but no database can perfectly capture the nation’s crime.

One of the FBI’s crime measurement resources is the National Incidents-Based Reporting System. It contains data on all crimes reported to partici

See Full Page