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: Grits for Breakfast

Declining crime would be better news if data weren't corrupt, incomplete

As has been discussed many times on this blog, data in Texas about both ongoing crime and criminal histories are incomplete and often corrupt, with wide variations from county to county and department to department regarding what gets reported and how. Sometimes what looks like a big reduction in crime may result from minor changes in reporting rates, while conversely, simply reporting all the data instead of just a portion of it might give a false appearance crime has increased.So when I see headlines like the ones yesterday claiming a 3% drop in crime statewide, I take it with a grain of salt. Much more important is the overall trend - the Dallas News says there have been drops in seven of the last ten years, which makes me comfortable concluding crime is indeed declining, even if I don't 100% accept the measuring stick being used...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on May 22, 2009 (boomark / email).