Police only get data that’s reported. Most places don’t call the cops the moment something drops. There’s a reason so many tops of house walls in Latin America

Police only get data that’s reported. Most places don’t call the cops the moment something drops. There’s a reason so many tops of house walls in Latin America are covered in shards of broken glass. Official statistics on crime have long been manipulated as well. Remember this rule: if it’s positive, politicians try to maximize its importance with lavish news conferences and self-congratulatory declarations. But! If the data is negative, they will be released quietly, often late on a Friday afternoon, to minimize media coverage. You can actually map the release time of crime data in some places to show whether it’s positive or negative news. There is also a profound difference in transparency levels and therefore data. Check out this report to see how much it varies. https://policetransparency.vera.org/PTI-factsheet.pdf https://policetransparency.vera.org/PTI-factsheet.pdf In California, crime is up in the latest reports. Homicides included. https://data-openjustice.doj.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/Crime%20In%20CA%202022f.pdf https://data-openjustice.doj.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2023... So, it’s cool that “crime is down” but honestly the article that NPR published is pretty awful journalism and really doesn’t present the truth, which is more complicated. Most of the time they are reporting on the FBI’s uniform crime reporting index: https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/more-fbi-services-and-information/ucr https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/more-fbi-services-an... This data has been under huge scrutiny and criticism for its inaccuracy: The FBI Uniform Crime Report's (UCR's) 'murder and nonnegligent manslaughter' data are so seriously flawed that the only figure they can provide criminologists is the number of deaths investigated by police as potentially criminal homicides, and the weapons use data reported by the UCR and the National Crime Survey (victimization data) are unreliable as well. Source: https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/flaws-fbi-uniform-crime-reports-regarding-homicide-and-weapons-use https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/flaws-fb... The “journalists” at NPR annd other news organizations even bother to mention any of this when they write their articles. The quality of their journalism should be questioned and people should be very aware of the unreliability of the statistical data, especially violent crimes like homicides.