Why Fear of Crime is Increasing

Why it is amplifying calls for more law and order and what we can do to prevent it

My email is public, and I occasionally get some user ‘feedback’, where ‘feedback’ is a euphemism for angry, spittle-spewing diatribes. Anything about firearms or policing is sure to induce this response, but there are unexpected interest groups around every topic—for instance, when I write about the crime decline, I am sure to get at least one email saying, “what are you talking about, we all know the crime decline was about lead.” But lead aside, overwhelmingly the gist of these comments is that I am just shining up DNC talking points. Now, I’m not sure where one acquires DNC talking points and though I would be curious to read them, I can’t parrot what I haven’t read.

Nevertheless, there is some fairness to these critiques. Isn’t there some bias from picking a topic in the first place (and not picking some other topic)? The researcher's cost-benefit model is straightforward: their time is constrained, so, if you can only take on a couple of new projects a year—do you really want to t…