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The media and certain political interests in the US have an interest in making everyone afraid of crime. The former needs it for ratings (if it bleeds it leads)

by api 3y ago

The media and certain political interests in the US have an interest in making everyone afraid of crime. The former needs it for ratings (if it bleeds it leads) and the latter to scare you into voting for them. There are a handful of cities having property crime epidemics due to bad local policies, but crime overall continues to fall.

dmix 3y ago
> There are a handful of cities having property crime epidemics due to bad local policies That new trend seems to be the majority of news I see re: crime. That plus DAs letting repeat/serious criminals go same day. Both are often in cities with the most journalists and news too (NYC, LA) so it gets prominent coverage. Those near daily videos of people robbing retail stores were shocking and rightfully so, I don't think I've seen anything like that in my adult life. So I don't blame people for being concerned that modern systems support that. Regardless, as you said, doomers/media have always sold the world if going to shit narrative. I remember reading letters from 1500s where a famous English priest was saying the same stuff, which easily could have been a twitter thread in 2024. So I doubt that's very new. If anything the rhetoric has escalated.
bobthepanda 3y ago
Crime is a matter of relative perspective. I think what is new is that with demographic trends, crime and poverty have started to suburbanize. But to me, the places I have lived (inner cities) are generally much safer than they were in the 90s and early aughts growing up. Back then, people wouldn’t let their kids go play outside or at the local park because they might catch a stray bullet from a gang shooting; it’s not anywhere this bad yet.
acdha 3y ago
Yes. I live in DC, which is a favorite punching bag for certain people and it’s eye-opening how few of the news stories mention two key details: the crime was mismanaged to the point where it lost accreditation and the prosecutors are federal appointees who don’t share priorities with or answer to the local government. There were so many doom-mongers going on about the city council, liberals, etc. without any mention of a multi-year disruption to any case requiring forensic analysis or even acknowledging that prosecutors were declining so many cases, much less discussing why. It sold a ton of ad impressions, I’m sure, but had no value for improving the situation.
lupire 3y ago
And other political interests have an interest in making everyone think crime is down, to stop voters from looking elsewhere. They headline is based on a thin slice of data, that crime is down from 2022 to 2023, despite being up far far more on 2023. Then it mocks people for saying on a 2023 survey that they perceive crime as being up, based on their allegedly invalid ife experiences in 2020-2022. It's the same kind of deception as the "transitory inflation" nonsense that went around. Then the article lists a litany of rebuttals to their own thesis -- major cities where violent crime and property crime are up recently. The article has nothing of value to say except that crime is a complex issue with many factors. It's low-key propaganda for the incumbent government.
- deleted 3y ago
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- api 3y ago
  The overall trend in violent crimes like homicide has been down since the early 1990s: https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/murder-homicide-rate https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/murd... There was a spike in 2020. If you wanted to blame an administration you'd blame Trump since it was toward the end of his term, but it almost certainly has more to do with COVID related mental health issues and disruption. Overall crime rate shows a similar pattern: https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/crime-rate-statistics https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/crim...

by api 3y ago

dmix 3y ago

> There are a handful of cities having property crime epidemics due to bad local policies That new trend seems to be the majority of news I see re: crime. That plus DAs letting repeat/serious criminals go same day. Both are often in cities with the most journalists and news too (NYC, LA) so it gets prominent coverage. Those near daily videos of people robbing retail stores were shocking and rightfully so, I don't think I've seen anything like that in my adult life. So I don't blame people for being concerned that modern systems support that. Regardless, as you said, doomers/media have always sold the world if going to shit narrative. I remember reading letters from 1500s where a famous English priest was saying the same stuff, which easily could have been a twitter thread in 2024. So I doubt that's very new. If anything the rhetoric has escalated.

bobthepanda 3y ago

Crime is a matter of relative perspective. I think what is new is that with demographic trends, crime and poverty have started to suburbanize. But to me, the places I have lived (inner cities) are generally much safer than they were in the 90s and early aughts growing up. Back then, people wouldn’t let their kids go play outside or at the local park because they might catch a stray bullet from a gang shooting; it’s not anywhere this bad yet.

acdha 3y ago

Yes. I live in DC, which is a favorite punching bag for certain people and it’s eye-opening how few of the news stories mention two key details: the crime was mismanaged to the point where it lost accreditation and the prosecutors are federal appointees who don’t share priorities with or answer to the local government. There were so many doom-mongers going on about the city council, liberals, etc. without any mention of a multi-year disruption to any case requiring forensic analysis or even acknowledging that prosecutors were declining so many cases, much less discussing why. It sold a ton of ad impressions, I’m sure, but had no value for improving the situation.

lupire 3y ago

And other political interests have an interest in making everyone think crime is down, to stop voters from looking elsewhere. They headline is based on a thin slice of data, that crime is down from 2022 to 2023, despite being up far far more on 2023. Then it mocks people for saying on a 2023 survey that they perceive crime as being up, based on their allegedly invalid ife experiences in 2020-2022. It's the same kind of deception as the "transitory inflation" nonsense that went around. Then the article lists a litany of rebuttals to their own thesis -- major cities where violent crime and property crime are up recently. The article has nothing of value to say except that crime is a complex issue with many factors. It's low-key propaganda for the incumbent government.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
api 3y ago
The overall trend in violent crimes like homicide has been down since the early 1990s: https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/murder-homicide-rate https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/murd... There was a spike in 2020. If you wanted to blame an administration you'd blame Trump since it was toward the end of his term, but it almost certainly has more to do with COVID related mental health issues and disruption. Overall crime rate shows a similar pattern: https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/crime-rate-statistics https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/crim...