Crime
Blog
The Very Thin Blue Line – Police staffing is down, and homicides are up
In Oakland in 2021, 133 people were killed and another 537 were shot, making Oakland one of California’s most dangerous cities. To put the numbers in perspective, more Oakland residents were killed per capita than the entire fatal casualties experienced by the US Armed Forces in the 1990-1991 Gulf War. ...
Steve Smith
March 3, 2022
California
Michael Shellenberger – San Fransicko
Our guest on this podcast is national bestselling author, Michael Shellenberger. He recently spoke to PRI supporters at a luncheon in San Francisco on his new book: San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. Michael has witnessed San Francisco’s decline over the past 30 years as it struggles with lawlessness, homelessness, ...
Pacific Research Institute
February 22, 2022
Blog
Californians Are Growing Increasingly Concerned About Crime. What’s Behind the Change in Attitude?
Anecdotes of rising incidents of crime across California are too numerous to mention these days. While California had a regimen of tough-on-crime public safety laws on the books as late as a decade ago, the past decade has ushered in a dramatic shift in criminal justice policy that led to ...
Tim Anaya
February 16, 2022
California
Gavin Newsom’s License to Misinform on Covid
Last summer, while trying to survive a recall effort, California governor Gavin Newsom claimed that Texas middle-class families “pay more taxes than middle-class families in California” and challenged doubters to “look that up.” A few months later, he swore that “violent crime and property crime” is “higher in Texas than ...
Kerry Jackson
February 10, 2022
Blog
What Crime Reports and Rates Don’t Tell Us
Last week the San Francisco Police Department issued its crime statistics report for 2021 also known as COMPSTAT. Modeled on the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and divided into two parts graded by seriousness they give us a picture of reported crime in the City of San Francisco. Unlike the ...
Steve Smith
February 1, 2022
Blog
Crime Victims Not Persuaded All’s Well in San Francisco
In a recent article – “We fact checked the most common claims about San Francisco crime”, the San Francisco Chronicle outrageously attempted to defend the state of crime in San Francisco as well as the recall facing District Attorney Chesa Boudin. The Chronicle may feel that while crime is up, ...
Steve Smith
January 21, 2022
Blog
America’s Cities in Decline
Go Downtown Things will be great when you’re — Downtown No finer place for sure — Downtown Everything’s waiting for you – Petula Clark, 1964 Perhaps I date myself, but I can still remember this 1960s song that captured the allure of the city. Back then, downtown, the proverbial “engine ...
Rowena Itchon
January 14, 2022
Blog
Newsom: Fact-Checked Again – And Wrong Again
A few months back, Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed Texas middle-class families “pay more taxes than middle-class families in California,” and he dared anyone to check him on it. We did, and he was wrong. Now he’s claiming that crime in Texas is worse than in California. He’s wrong again. Appearing ...
Kerry Jackson
December 17, 2021
Blog
Are Schools Covering Up the School Crime Wave?
The scandal in Loudon County, Virginia, where the school superintendent and school board covered up the rape of a student, has made national headlines. National data indicates that such cover-ups may be occurring more frequently than the public realizes. In the Loudon County case, in June the local superintendent and ...
Lance Izumi
November 10, 2021
California
Rising Crime in California: Media Events Aren’t Enough
When California Gov. Gavin Newsom and a collection of mayors and law enforcement officials held a news conference in Long Beach last month to discuss, according to the governor’s office, “state efforts to address crime and reduce retail theft,” tongues wagged, optics sparkled, and a bill that passed both the ...
Kerry Jackson
August 10, 2021
The Very Thin Blue Line – Police staffing is down, and homicides are up
In Oakland in 2021, 133 people were killed and another 537 were shot, making Oakland one of California’s most dangerous cities. To put the numbers in perspective, more Oakland residents were killed per capita than the entire fatal casualties experienced by the US Armed Forces in the 1990-1991 Gulf War. ...
Michael Shellenberger – San Fransicko
Our guest on this podcast is national bestselling author, Michael Shellenberger. He recently spoke to PRI supporters at a luncheon in San Francisco on his new book: San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. Michael has witnessed San Francisco’s decline over the past 30 years as it struggles with lawlessness, homelessness, ...
Californians Are Growing Increasingly Concerned About Crime. What’s Behind the Change in Attitude?
Anecdotes of rising incidents of crime across California are too numerous to mention these days. While California had a regimen of tough-on-crime public safety laws on the books as late as a decade ago, the past decade has ushered in a dramatic shift in criminal justice policy that led to ...
Gavin Newsom’s License to Misinform on Covid
Last summer, while trying to survive a recall effort, California governor Gavin Newsom claimed that Texas middle-class families “pay more taxes than middle-class families in California” and challenged doubters to “look that up.” A few months later, he swore that “violent crime and property crime” is “higher in Texas than ...
What Crime Reports and Rates Don’t Tell Us
Last week the San Francisco Police Department issued its crime statistics report for 2021 also known as COMPSTAT. Modeled on the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and divided into two parts graded by seriousness they give us a picture of reported crime in the City of San Francisco. Unlike the ...
Crime Victims Not Persuaded All’s Well in San Francisco
In a recent article – “We fact checked the most common claims about San Francisco crime”, the San Francisco Chronicle outrageously attempted to defend the state of crime in San Francisco as well as the recall facing District Attorney Chesa Boudin. The Chronicle may feel that while crime is up, ...
America’s Cities in Decline
Go Downtown Things will be great when you’re — Downtown No finer place for sure — Downtown Everything’s waiting for you – Petula Clark, 1964 Perhaps I date myself, but I can still remember this 1960s song that captured the allure of the city. Back then, downtown, the proverbial “engine ...
Newsom: Fact-Checked Again – And Wrong Again
A few months back, Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed Texas middle-class families “pay more taxes than middle-class families in California,” and he dared anyone to check him on it. We did, and he was wrong. Now he’s claiming that crime in Texas is worse than in California. He’s wrong again. Appearing ...
Are Schools Covering Up the School Crime Wave?
The scandal in Loudon County, Virginia, where the school superintendent and school board covered up the rape of a student, has made national headlines. National data indicates that such cover-ups may be occurring more frequently than the public realizes. In the Loudon County case, in June the local superintendent and ...
Rising Crime in California: Media Events Aren’t Enough
When California Gov. Gavin Newsom and a collection of mayors and law enforcement officials held a news conference in Long Beach last month to discuss, according to the governor’s office, “state efforts to address crime and reduce retail theft,” tongues wagged, optics sparkled, and a bill that passed both the ...