The link between local news coverage and Americans’ perceptions of crime

Source: pewresearch.org 8/29/24 For most of the past three decades, Americans have said crime is rising in the United States, even though official statistics show a dramatic decrease in crime during that span. In 23 of 27 Gallup surveys conducted since 1993, at least 60% of Americans have said there is more crime in the U.S. than there was the year before. But this perception is at odds with the data: Since 1993, the nation’s violent crime rate has plunged by nearly half, while the property crime rate has fallen…

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FL: The liability of unreliable crime data in election season

Source: themarshallproject.org 6/20/23 In announcing his presidential bid, Florida’s governor relied on data from only half of the state’s law enforcement agencies. When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his bid for the presidency on Twitter Spaces last month, he touted Florida’s low crime rate as a proud accomplishment. “Claiming that Florida is unsafe is a total farce,” DeSantis said in the announcement. “I mean, are you kidding me? You look at cities around this country, they are awash in crime. In Florida, our crime rate is at a 50-year low.”…

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CDC Inflated Data About Teen Girls and Sexual Assault

Source: reason.com 3/16/23 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) inflated data about teen girls and sexual assault in a news release about a new CDC report on teenage mental health. In 2021, the percentage of teen girls who reported that they had ever been “forced to have sex” was up 27 percent since 2019, the health agency said, calling it “the first increase since the CDC began monitoring this measure.” The percentage of teen girls reporting this in the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey reporting did rise, unfortunately—but…

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Early Jail Releases During Pandemic Didn’t Lead to Crime Spike: Study

[thecrimereport.org – 7/27/20] A study of 29 U.S. cities has found no correlation between the early release of detainees from the cities’ jails due to COVID-19 fears and any increase in crime in those cities between March and May. “The analysis confirmed that the amount by which a county changed their jail population wasn’t correlated with the amount of change in crime,” said the report by the American Civil Liberties Union, “Decarceration and Crime During Covid-19,” released Monday. “We found no evidence of any spikes in crime in any of…

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No Havens for Registered Persons: Why “Most ‘Sex Offenders’ Per Capita” is a Meaningless Statistic

[sosen.org – 7/1/19] A Patch.com article entitled “Sex Offenders: How Illinois Ranks On Registry,” published June 27, 2019, proclaims that Illinois ranks 25th, smack dab in the middle of the list for most registered persons per capita. The article cited ASecureLife, a private website that reviews (and promotes) various security products. In turn, ASecureLife cited the stats from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The statistic has no real meaning, quite frankly. In 2011, Indiana, the state next to Illinois, endured the tragic murder of Aliahna Lemmon. The…

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FBI Releases 2012 Crime Statistics

The FBI estimated that in 2012, the number of violent crimes increased 0.7 percent, according to the figures released today. However, property crimes decreased 0.9 percent, marking the 10th straight year of declines for these offenses, collectively. The 2012 statistics show that the estimated rate of violent crime was 386.9 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, and the property crime rate was 2,859.2 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. While the violent crime rate remained virtually unchanged when compared to the 2011 rate, the property crime rate declined 1.6 percent. Full Article

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