2. In 2020, along with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a dramatic spike in murders in the United States.

This increase in lethal violence, understandably, was covered extensively in national and local media outlets.

4. But now Jeff Asher (@[email protected]) has published data revealing the plunge in the murder rate in dozens of cities

Asher calls this drop "astonishing"

But other than a piece Asher wrote for The Atlantic, the data has not merited any dedicated coverage in major outlets

5. The quantity and tenor of crime coverage matters. It shapes public sentiment about crime and ultimately shapes important decisions around public safety budgets, police tactics, and criminal justice policy.

https://popular.info/p/us-murder-rate-declines-dramatically

6. In many large cities, the decline in the murder rate is even more pronounced.

Year-to-date murders have declined 40% in Minneapolis, 28% in Atlanta, 26% in Los Angeles, and 18% in Baltimore.

But local coverage of these declines has been sparse or non-existent.

@snooze_cat @juddlegum in the 'decades' timeframe, or why they went down from the last few years?

I think there's not going to be one answer, but pandemic stresses and alcohol abuse probably played a big part in the last rise.

One thing to keep an eye on... local news will always blame local politicians, but violent crime rates often follow national trends, not local ones. If people are anxious, not able to make ends meet, and drunk, there is going to be increased violence.

@snooze_cat @juddlegum There are a lot of reasons posited, from abortion availability in the late 70s leading to fewer 'unwanted children becoming murderous adults' in the late 90s, to the reduction in lead poisoning leading to people being less demented, to social changes that reduced the impact and scope of abject inner-city poverty, or the effects of mass-incarceration. I've even heard that air conditioning may have had an effect.

* note that this does not imply my specific opinions on any of these or their validity, just that they're part of the conversation when we talk about the precipitous decline in crime since the mid 90s.