New Orleans       The headlines say that major crime is decreasing throughout the United States and its cities.  Crime still has some salience as a political issue, especially promoted by anti-urban, blue-city pundits and politicians on the right.  Maybe it’s even true, but it’s hard to say.

The FBI reports significant declines.  The esteemed, nonpartisan Brennan Center reports,

The broad trend matches what researchers have observed in collections of city data about crime trends between 2022 and 2023. Specifically, the FBI’s report shows remarkable declines in murder (down 13.2 percent), violent crime (down 5.7 percent), and property crime (down 4.3 percent). Of the seven major offenses tracked by the FBI, the report shows an increase only in motor vehicle theft (up 10.7 percent).

They are quick to add that the statistics are somewhat gimpy.  A new system for reporting was rolled out in 2021, and even fewer police departments shared their figures that had done so in the past.  Police departments at the city and county level are encouraged, but not required, to report to the national center, so the data always seems to have an asterisk attached.

At least there’s some data to question on major crimes.  For something like domestic violence, the increases continue, perhaps as much as 8% in a report from several years ago.  I’ve beaten this drum before about the major gap in collecting, reporting, and, very importantly, sharing data on domestic violence.  In the last half-dozen years, nothing has really changed, and admittedly, I have also failed to successfully recruit anyone to do the tedious work of collecting the data.  Sure, the task would be hard, but even half-ass, would be invaluable.  Then, as now, even where police collected the data, they often didn’t keep it, and rarely shared it between other communities, states, and jurisdiction, allowing domestic abusers to simply move, as if they had clean slates, and continue to injure and sometimes kill partners.

Where we do know anything about the statistics, they are appalling. Break the Cycle makes them hard to ignore:

• In the United States, nearly every 1 in 2 women and more than 2 in 5 men reported experiencing intimate partner violence at some point in their lifetime.
• Over 47% of women have encountered contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime.
• 85% of domestic violence victims are women.
• 50% are likely to experience domestic violence from an intimate partner in their lifetimes.

Of course, the data there is somewhat random and often has some age on it, but who can doubt the likelihood that it is not only true, but undercounted.  Recently, I shared a story from a union where in an icebreaker when asked who had experienced sexual harassment in a labor union, where it might be least expected, virtually all the women and one man stood up.  If that was the workplace culture in a progressive union, we all have to shutter when thinking about what is likely happening to too many women, and some men, behind the closed doors in other workplace settings.  I know the #MeToo moment seems to have passed, but domestic violence hasn’t really had its moment.  It needs to be recognized.  It must be counted and must be shared.  This isn’t going to be something that comes down from the White House, especially these days, but it needs to rise from the grassroots.  Change has to come, or we can’t pretend any community is safe, when we are only looking at the street in front of the house, and not protecting anyone behind the front door.