Is crime up or down? It's complicated. We've been hearing a lot of panic lately about crime in San Francisco, often offered in service of some political ends. Folks suggest that criminal justice reform measures—or mere demands for them—make America more dangerous. That liberal/progressive policies are driving social unrest and violence. That police need more money and governments need more ways to invade privacy.
But in San Francisco—and a number of other cities, large and small—crime is actually down from pre-pandemic levels. And in the Bay Area and other areas around the country, crime data are much more mixed than much of the moral panic would have you believe. Some crimes are up from last year but down from 2019 and preceding years. In a lot of places, homicides are up but overall violent crime, and/or other types of crime, are down.
