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Reality check: What we get wrong about crime
American worry about crime; the number of people who think the crime rate is going up hasn’t been this high in decades.
Of course, certain crimes sometimes spike in certain places. But overall, I have some fantastic news: Nationwide, the crime rate has been steadily dropping for 30 years.
Here’s violent crimes, like murders, rapes, and robberies:
And here are property crimes like burglaries and thefts:
Now, it’s useful to ask where these numbers come from. The FBI keeps a database of all crimes reported by the police. The problem is, we don’t always report crimes to the police. People report a stolen car, but very few people report sexual assault.
It’s for that reason that, back in the 1970s, the Bureau of Justice Statistics began to survey people every year to ask about their experiences with crimes, whether or not they were actually reported. This is also a flawed method (you can’t very well interview a murder victim), but overall the news is good here, too.
Nobody’s really sure how to explain the drop. Maybe it’s better policing. Maybe it’s better security technology, or rising incomes, or lower unemployment. We’re also an aging society, and it is usually young folks who do the criming.
But whatever the reason, perception and reality are two different things, in a good way. Most of us think that crime is going up, but actually both data sources say it’s actually going down.
So, just this once, we should be happy to be wrong!
Story produced by David Rothman. Editor: Emanuele Secci.
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In recent months, the hip-hop mogul has faced multiple accusations of sexual abuse and physical violence. In March, Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security Investigations agents and other law enforcement officers due to a possible ongoing sex trafficking investigation, U.S. officials said at the time, but no charges were filed then.
The charges against Combs on Monday were not immediately known.
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Marc Agnifilo, an attorney for Combs, said in a statement. “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect person but he Is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Combs has faced a number of lawsuits in recent months involving allegations of sexual misconduct and violence. Combs and his representatives have denied all the accusations.
In May, Combs apologized for a security video aired by CNN that appeared to show him attacking Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016. He said his behavior was “inexcusable” and he takes “full responsibility” for his actions.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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