4 ms·

Cops don’t give warnings for serious crimes, so those stats are far more trustworthy. Just look where murders happen to know the actual crime rate of an area.

musingsole 5y ago
No, but they still have to hear or see those serious crimes to pursue them. No matter how you frame it, where the cops put their boots will necessarily increase crime reporting much like increasing a good's price necessitates a drop in demand.
- merpnderp 5y ago
  No for murder they don’t need to be there. Neither armed robbery, rape, shootings, etc. There are a whole class of crimes we have reasonably good statistics on. Not perfect but good enough to know the trend and magnitude.
- xphilter 5y ago
  That doesn’t even make sense. If police aren’t trustworthy, why would someone report a crime. Suppose I want to report a crime in my house, that would involve inviting police inside. If I know them to be corrupt (maybe they go snooping or drop some drugs or steal from me), there’s no way I’d put myself in that situation, so I wouldn’t report the crime.
- lazide 5y ago
  Generally more applicable to car break-ins and assaults than murders though per the parent post?
xphilter 5y ago
How do you know that? And what is a “serious” crime here. Anecdotally, it seems like every white lawyer Ive gotten to know has had dui, hard drugs, and more resulting in warnings rather than arrests.
- areyousure 5y ago
  The "crime rate" or "index" counts the number of Uniform Crime Report Part I "index crimes". These "serious" crimes are the following: aggravated assault, forcible rape, murder, and robbery (violent), and arson, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft (property). https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/criminal-justice/crime/part-i-offenses https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/criminal-justice/cr...
  - xphilter 5y ago
    Thank you for the citation. But your citation (on purpose or not) basically says the opposite of the parent comment. It seems even “serious” crime stats are manipulated by police: “ A common thread running through many of the incidents of police officials' alteration of crime statistics is that police commanders responded to pressure from politicians, the media, and the public to lower crime rates by downgrading felonies by intentionally mislabeling felonies, such as aggravated assault and burglary, as misdemeanors. Such a practice deflates rates of serious crimes and inflates rates of nonserious crimes.”

musingsole 5y ago

No, but they still have to hear or see those serious crimes to pursue them. No matter how you frame it, where the cops put their boots will necessarily increase crime reporting much like increasing a good's price necessitates a drop in demand.

merpnderp 5y ago
No for murder they don’t need to be there. Neither armed robbery, rape, shootings, etc. There are a whole class of crimes we have reasonably good statistics on. Not perfect but good enough to know the trend and magnitude.
xphilter 5y ago
That doesn’t even make sense. If police aren’t trustworthy, why would someone report a crime. Suppose I want to report a crime in my house, that would involve inviting police inside. If I know them to be corrupt (maybe they go snooping or drop some drugs or steal from me), there’s no way I’d put myself in that situation, so I wouldn’t report the crime.
lazide 5y ago
Generally more applicable to car break-ins and assaults than murders though per the parent post?

xphilter 5y ago

How do you know that? And what is a “serious” crime here. Anecdotally, it seems like every white lawyer Ive gotten to know has had dui, hard drugs, and more resulting in warnings rather than arrests.

areyousure 5y ago
The "crime rate" or "index" counts the number of Uniform Crime Report Part I "index crimes". These "serious" crimes are the following: aggravated assault, forcible rape, murder, and robbery (violent), and arson, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft (property). https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/criminal-justice/crime/part-i-offenses https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/criminal-justice/cr...
- xphilter 5y ago
  Thank you for the citation. But your citation (on purpose or not) basically says the opposite of the parent comment. It seems even “serious” crime stats are manipulated by police: “ A common thread running through many of the incidents of police officials' alteration of crime statistics is that police commanders responded to pressure from politicians, the media, and the public to lower crime rates by downgrading felonies by intentionally mislabeling felonies, such as aggravated assault and burglary, as misdemeanors. Such a practice deflates rates of serious crimes and inflates rates of nonserious crimes.”