Crime is a non-issue in the US. The problem here is a feeling of general helplessness: there are many disturbing trends and quality of life is clearly falling f

Crime is a non-issue in the US. The problem here is a feeling of general helplessness: there are many disturbing trends and quality of life is clearly falling for many, but it's things like crappy infrastructure that never gets repaired, schools implementing dumb policies, growth in bureaucracy in nearly every facet in life, stagnant wages and declining employment in traditional fields, etc. The symptoms are obvious but the causes are complex and viable cures require cooperation on a scale most now consider unrealistic. But staying informed feels like it helps, even though it generally doesn't. And in the particular case of crime, that's a situation where the actions of individuals could at least in theory make a difference. The benefits to the community of identifying a stolen bike are trivial, and even then you're very unlikely to ever actually do it, but one can fantasize about heroically saving the day and helping your neighbor and that fantasy scratches the itch we all have to be part of something greater. And if you can find a whole bunch of people who all want to do their part and help, maybe there's hope that the bigger issues aren't so intractable after all. Unfortunately the problem will only get worse until the nation finds a healthy way to deal with the despair. God only knows when or if that'll happen though.