3 ms·

So what you're saying is that the reason all the crime statistics are lower than in the past is because people stopped reporting these Incredibly Rampant crimes

So what you're saying is that the reason all the crime statistics are lower than in the past is because people stopped reporting these Incredibly Rampant crimes, and the solution is to bring back the people who presided over high crime rates? Why wouldn't those people suppress the crime statistics to look good if it's so easy to suppress them now? What will make them more effective now than they were before? More violence? More cops? More guns and tear gas grenades? Rail theft is an incredibly specific crime compared to something like a carjacking or a house burglary. There are only so many trains to rob and only so many rail lines. It doesn't make sense to extrapolate from it to all other crimes.

orangepurple 5y ago
Crime rates are a huge lie due to under reporting. The police may intentionally "forget" to follow up on reports which coincidentally makes their stats look better than they should. I've filed reports which were promptly lost within four hours when I followed up. One of those was a hit and run.
- kevingadd 5y ago
  It's a known problem, yes. Unless that is a new problem, however, lower crime rates are still lower crime rates. If you're arguing that under-reporting is a new or dramatically worse problem, how does switching in 'tough on crime' politicians fix under-reporting? Under-reporting is a police department policy that makes cops look good, so why would they stop doing it? If you want to fix that problem in particular, you should vote someone in who will fix it, not someone who wants to throw more people into the local lock-up. If cops have been throwing out 50% of reports forever, then 200% of a lower number is still less than 200% of a bigger number from past statistics.
  - barry-cotter 5y ago
    The degree of under reporting can and does change through time. If you have a pro crime pro criminal DA like Chesa Boudin people respond to that. People report less crimes if they know nothing will be done. If they know stopping crime isn't a priority police are less likley to do anything to stop it. People respond to incentives. Incentives vary over time.

orangepurple 5y ago

Crime rates are a huge lie due to under reporting. The police may intentionally "forget" to follow up on reports which coincidentally makes their stats look better than they should. I've filed reports which were promptly lost within four hours when I followed up. One of those was a hit and run.

kevingadd 5y ago
It's a known problem, yes. Unless that is a new problem, however, lower crime rates are still lower crime rates. If you're arguing that under-reporting is a new or dramatically worse problem, how does switching in 'tough on crime' politicians fix under-reporting? Under-reporting is a police department policy that makes cops look good, so why would they stop doing it? If you want to fix that problem in particular, you should vote someone in who will fix it, not someone who wants to throw more people into the local lock-up. If cops have been throwing out 50% of reports forever, then 200% of a lower number is still less than 200% of a bigger number from past statistics.
- barry-cotter 5y ago
  The degree of under reporting can and does change through time. If you have a pro crime pro criminal DA like Chesa Boudin people respond to that. People report less crimes if they know nothing will be done. If they know stopping crime isn't a priority police are less likley to do anything to stop it. People respond to incentives. Incentives vary over time.