The presumptive Republican nominee is delivering racially tinged warnings that “crime is out of control,” but the numbers suggest otherwise.
.. Even though crime rates fell significantly between 2008 and 2012, there was never as steep a corresponding drop in concern, and worries have actually increased over the last couple years.
.. Trump has to a great extent taken the side of police in the brutality debate, and on the stump he makes a point of applauding U.S. law-enforcement personnel. Foregrounding unrest makes it seem more prevalent than it is, reinforcing or creating a sense of lawlessness.
.. The people who are most likely to be affected by rising violence in city centers are those who are least likely to support Trump. But if talking about “inner-city” crime motivates rural voters to go to the polls and vote for him in November, what does it matter?