• LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
    3·
    11 months ago

    I always wonder what causes crime rates to ebb and flow. Now one seems to be able to predict it or prove why it happens.

      • Encromion@beehaw.org
        7·
        11 months ago

        You’re right that poverty is the root cause of crime and violence, but I think you’re missing the point that OP was trying to make. Why does crime get worse or get better during any given week or month? Even if it’s because maybe a factory shuts down and more people are out of work (for example, though I daresay that this leads to petty theft and not violence), it seems nobody’s really able to predict these trends on a macro scale.

        • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
          1·
          11 months ago

          Exactly. I was curious and looked up crime statistics in DC and there has been a notable increase in violent crime this year. But why? Is it really down to changing economic conditions? They don’t seem overly different from last year, at least not enough to cause a big spike. And crime was famously low during and immediately after the 2008 financial crisis when many people were really struggling. It seems that poverty and inequality are factors, but there are other factors we don’t seem to have identified.