Whenever we talk about crime in North Carolina’s cities, and that’s been often lately, someone points to the data. Violent crime is down, they say. We’re safer than other places, the reports insist.
That’s a fair pushback and a good instinct. Public policy should be conducted in the realm of reality, not anecdotes. It’s so easy to overreact to a few high-profile outliers.
But then bullets whiz across an Uptown Charlotte park on a beautiful weekend night, and the man accused of firing them is out on bail in a heartbeat.
At that point, it’s clearer why people don’t always trust the statistics.
Spreadsheets vs. reality
A July report from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department showed that crime was down 8% over the first half of the year, with violent crime down 25%. Homicides, robberies, aggravated assaults all appeared to be moving in the right direction…