Vox says 'Most Americans are wrong about crime'

I closed 'Incredible Animal Journeys' leads Outstanding Nature Documentaries at the News & Doc Emmy Awards for International Tiger Day by writing "I don't know what I'm blogging about next, so stay tuned to see what I write about tomorrow!" Because of several minor mishaps, I've decided to follow through on the easiest idea I could, revisiting my remark in the middle of 'Jon Stewart Debunks GOP’s City Crime Narrative' plus 'The Daily Show's Emmy nominations.*

Finally, the crime stats show violent crime is indeed down after spiking during the pandemic, which happened when Hoover Cleveland was President, but the crime rhetoric from the Right continues. "Fvck the facts," indeed. I have two more videos that examine that phenomenon I'm saving for future posts, so stay tuned.

The first video is Vox telling its viewers Most Americans are wrong about crime.

But they’re right that something has changed in American cities.
...
In 2020 and 2021, amid a pandemic that wreaked general havoc on the social fabric of the United States, violent crime rose. Today, most Americans believe that crime in the US has come roaring back — maybe even to the levels of the 1980s and ’90s.

But a look at the data shows a very different story. Nevertheless, the feeling that our cities are less safe is at least partly coming from something real. Something has changed in American cities, particularly since the pandemic. So what’s different, and what is the truth about crime in America right now?

First, Americans consistently believe that crime is a major problem and is increasing, even when it's not. Second, their worry about crime is misplaced. It's not that high where they are concerned about it, in downtowns. I can say that downtown and midtown Detroit is actually pretty safe. The rest of Detroit may have high crime rates, but I think the parts of Detroit that scare me most are empty, which creeps me out, not violent. Third, there's a lot of media attention on crime. If it bleeds, it leads, and crime is high enough that there is always some story for the news. Finally, what Americans are responding to aren't particular crimes, but homelessness, which creates a sense of public disorder. To the extent that homelessness is being criminalized, yes, there's crime, but the stats show that major crimes are down. Still, it doesn't matter if people don't believe it. Sigh. It makes me glad that former prosecutor Kamala Harris is running instead. The prosecutor versus the felon! Maybe Americans will think she's better on crime than Joe Biden.

The second video is CityNerd doing his best Law & Order impression in "Urban Crime Wave": Facts vs. Hype.

Welcome to a new episode of the "Which city should I move to?" series, which kicked off with my earlier video, "Affordable Cities: 10 US Metro Areas With Underrated Livability, Walkability and Transit."

This time we're delving into a question which always sparks a lot of discussion in the comments: urban crime, and violent crime in particular. Acknowledging the serious trauma that comes with being a crime victim, this video starts with the assumption that many people -- probably the majority -- avoid certain cities because of their reputation for high crime rates.

The video attempts to break the question down geographically. Is the city the right geographic unit at which to measure? Does it mean anything to say St. Louis, Memphis, Detroit, and Albuquerque have some of the highest crime rates among US cities? Well...maybe not.

Ray "CityNerd" Delahanty made the same point about crime being concentrated in certain neighborhoods and not spread throughout the city, using the same example of Chicago to illustrate the point. He did acknowledge Albuquerque's downtown being one of the more high-crime neighborhoods, but that didn't scare him off from moving there from Las Vegas. Good for him. At least he likes Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, even if they add to Albuquerque's reputation for crime.

That's a wrap for today's post. Stay tuned for the final post of July tomorrow, which will be a surprise to me. Any suggestions?

*First, my desktop's ability to connect to Wi-Fi malfunctioned, so I had to buy an Ethernet cable. Before I could do that, I got a flat tire from hitting a pothole and had to get it replaced. Finally, it rained on me when I refueled. At least I corrected some papers while I was waiting for roadside assistance, so I got something useful done in addition to all the things circumstances forced on me today.