Americans are concerned about crime. In the lead up to the 2022 elections, violent crime was a top issue on voters’ minds. In a recent Politico survey of mayors, half said that public safety was the most pressing issue in their communities.
Though voters’ perceptions of crime don’t always match reality, today they’re not far off. Homicides have risen sharply since 2019, by as much as 30 percent through 2021, and rates have only recently begun ticking down. Motor vehicle theft remains elevated nationwide. And while the pandemic suppressed lots of street crime, criminologists Aaron Chalfin and Maxim Massenkoff have argued that robbery and assault also rose after controlling for the drop in foot traffic.
Continue reading the entire piece here at Slow Boring. Based on a recent report.
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Charles Fain Lehman is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal.
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