Almost two years ago I speculated about whether a bad economy might lead to rising crime in 24-hour cities and lead to quality of life declines, possibly even a return to the scary bad old days of unsafe streets—mugging and murder mayhem. Aside from modest upticks in murder rates off rock bottom generational lows in some cities like New York and Washington DC, we’re a far cry from “Death Wish” and “Mean Streets” days. In the last year violent crime has even dipped in Chicago.
But how long can that last if the poverty rate continues to rise, states continue to shut down prisons to save costs, cities shave police forces to stanch red ink, and demographics propels a bulge in young adult echo boomer males, the most likely age cohort to commit violent crimes?
Intuitively, you would expect these forces and realities to take hold—just not yet. Or are policing techniques so improved that we don’t have to worry?
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