Glenn FleishmanRetail theft went down and the national retailers federation had to admit 5% not 50% of theft was from criminal gangs. This whole panic was concocted to close underperforming and unionized stores and the media bought it. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/business/organized-shoplifting-retail-crime-theft-retraction.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Ek0.cMux.iabRLNkE-vqu&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
I’ve been pointing out for years that the actual stats from the police even haven’t matched the panic in the media. In America (and much of the world), we’re at a near all-time low for violent crime and most other crime, so any tiny increase looks huge, as it did during the pandemic. We’re now reverting to the (new) norm.
famousringo@glennf I feel like there are a lot of changes from the past few years that people are just assuming are long-term trends, rather than a spike from a once-in-a-century crisis.
@famousringo Some people haven't gotten over the trauma of the 1980s/1990s, to be fair, when crime was at an all-time modern high (probably in the century). Police and politicians still use the rhetoric. Some cities haven't fully recovered—shockingly, these are cities in which people of color, primarily Black, were restricted in housing, investments weren't made in school, and Black men were heavily overpoliced and thrown in prison (often for charges white men weren't). Systemic!