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From the same article, while rail thefts are up 160%, “According to LAPD data through Nov. 27, property crime was up 2.6% over the same period last year but is
by dv_dt 5y ago
From the same article, while rail thefts are up 160%,
“According to LAPD data through Nov. 27, property crime was up 2.6% over the same period last year but is down 6.6% from 2019.”
- Bostonian 5y agoWhen people know property crimes will not be prosecuted, they are less likely to report it. When the police know that people who commit such crimes will be released without charges, they are less likely to arrest such criminals.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- Ekaros 5y agoAlso when people know that police will do very little about a crime, why even waste time reporting it. Specially if the perpetrator is unkown.
- rtkwe 5y agoOne big reason is insurance requires you to file a police report in most situations before they'll do anything for you. That does only increase reporting in more affluent areas of course but there are reasons beyond the police doing their jobs.
- topspin 5y ago> According to LAPD This is a trustworthy source of information?
- andrewmunsell 5y agoThe LA Police Department?
- wayoutthere 5y agoHistory says no.
- ruined 5y agowell, last year in every discussion about the "retail theft wave" people would bring up police statistics indicating only a modest rise or actual decline, and were thus criticized for assuming accuracy. so, let's just exercise the same skepticism here
- baggy_trough 5y agoIt's probably greatly understated.
- topspin 5y agoThe whole notion that it's even possible to credibly measure property crime in a place like LA is farcical even absent the institutional corruption and incompetence of the LAPD. The numbers are political fiction.
- ultrarunner 5y agoFor only one example, Buckeye, Arizona was accused of misreporting crime statistics to make it the safest place in Arizona for a while [0]. I'm sure this happens to some extent throughout many jurisdictions, and the idea of the LAPD reporting favorable statistics doesn't seem far fetched at all. [0] https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/are-buckeyes-low-violent-crime-stats-too-good-to-be-true https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/are-buc...
- rdtsc 5y agoWonder if in this case how they’d count the stats. Are these packages counted each as a single instance of theft? Wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t count at all as occurring in LA but in the state where the train is owned.
- Lammy 5y agoThis is total speculation on my part until I can find a better reference, but I assume it's tracked in terms of rail cars since that's how STB tracks other statistics: https://www.stb.gov/reports-data/rail-service-data/ https://www.stb.gov/reports-data/rail-service-data/ Though I'm not sure how that calculation would work when we're talking about intermodal container theft, since modern intermodal "well cars" can consist of one, three, or even five permanently-coupled platforms holding two stacked containers each: https://www.gatx.com/wps/wcm/connect/GATX/GATX_SITE/Home/Rail+North+America/Products/Equipment+Types/Freight/Intermodal+Railcars/Well+Cars/ https://www.gatx.com/wps/wcm/connect/GATX/GATX_SITE/Home/Rai...
- tonymet 5y agothese stats are meaningless
- kodah 5y agoImportant to note, LAPD does not track crimes on railways. The railroads have to staff and supply their own police force.
- nradov 5y agoI don't trust any crime statistics other than murders. Police in many cities barely investigate minor crimes and often actively discourage victims from filing reports, so the statistics are artificially low.
- dv_dt 5y agoGiven the same organization and same measurement biases, one can still compare data from past times on a relative basis.
- magila 5y agoThat assumes a constant relationship between reported crime and actual crime. I don't think that's a safe assumption to make. For instance it may be that as property crime becomes more prevalent so does public awareness of the futility of filing a report for it. This would lead to a decrease in the ratio of reported crime to actual crime.
- humaniania 5y agoSo instead of using the actual data that's available we should make up whatever bias we want that fits our existing world view? Even with no evidence to support it other than conjecture?
- barry-cotter 5y agoYes. You should have an opinion on an organisation's probity based on what you know about it. If you don't have data on a specfic organsiation's track record you default to the reference class. If you see something like SF, where records suggest crime in all areas bar murder is falling, but retailers are shutting stores, boarding up windows and putting razor blades behind the counter you just don't trust the figures. When you know the data is bullshit and lies you say so.
- dv_dt 5y agoYou need other data to prove those biases, otherwise you're making unfounded hypothesis.