The thread seems incomplete without a mention of Faith Spotted Eagle, who received an electoral vote for President without ever running, as electoral voters took to heart the message that they should "vote their conscience".

From the article.

"According to the FBI, the 2015 murder rate was 10 percent higher than it was in 2014 — the highest one-year increase “in nearly half a century,” according to the New York Times."

"That one-year increase may be what Trump meant to say. In fact, he came close to using the actual statistic in the second presidential debate on Oct. 9, when he said, “We have an increase in murder within our cities, the biggest in 45 years.” It’s the one-year increase nationwide."

Lawrence of Arabia
British Beatlemania
Ole Miss
John Glenn
Liston beats Patterson

Too soon.

Taking into consideration 2015 and 2016, murder rates in the US are at historic lows. Does that help? I mean, how do you look at all those charts and argue that crime is not way down?

Anyway, the more interesting conversation is why there is a spike in 2015 and 2016? Did police forces change their behavior? Hmmmmm.....

The drop in crime in NYC does predate Di Blasio.
Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg were able to reverse the "damage" done to the City by Mayor Dinkins.

What I was referring to were the changes made by Mayor DiBlasio's administration to show lower crime rates.
There is also a lot of concern about NYC crime getting worse,based on the recently appointed police commissioner.

Ray Kelly's comments have been echoed by a number of others.
I'd also say that the information released by the DiBlasio administration,the same people currently under investigation by both Federal and State Grand Juries,could hardly be called "reliable".

I have no disagreement that the murder rate in urban areas had come a lot over the past 25 years.
Again,most people attribute that to efforts made by people like Mayor Giuliani.

I'm referring to the recent (1-2 year) uptick in violent crimes,including murders and shootings.

As far as "trends" in inner cities,except for the "Iron Bound Section of Newark and ares around the Prudential Center and N.J. P.A.C.,where the City just happened to put police substations,try walking around Newark at night.

Same thing with the areas anywhere near JFK Boulevard in Jersey City.

My wife is a visiting nurse who works/has worked in Jersey City,Passaic and Paterson.
Around 10 years ago,many of the areas she visited in those cities were "normal".
Then they went to "escort" areas,requiring a security guard to accompany her and then only during the day.

If a patient needs visit at night they have to have the police meet the nurse there or send them to the E.R.

Now some of those "escort" areas have become so dangerous they require an armed escort and again,only daylight visits.

I know its anecdotal,but that's my firsthand experience with how "safe" certain inner cities have become.

NYC becoming one of the safest big cities in the world can also be attributed to the Federal initiative under Clinton to add a lot more police to the streets. NYC has a crapton of people and I think because of its population density benefited the most.

Not a fan either but his "broken window" approach worked. In his mind there was no deferred maintenance. Graffiti on a subway car, pull the car off the track and clean it up. It worked.

Wow, I guess I'll join you guys in Siberia...

About 45% of the increase in homicides in big cities over the last year can be attributed to Chicago alone. So if you want to understand any of it, you first have to understand what is going on in Chicago.

There is no single answer for why Chicago has become more violent over the past 2 or 3 years. But many on the ground believe that one significant cause is the phenomenon of gang fragmentation. As gangs splinter, you have more potential for conflict and violence and this has been occurring more in recent years. The second piece of this is that in an effort to crack down on gangs, the CPD has arrested many older gang leaders. Thus creating a power vacuum that is being filled by younger - and more violent - leadership. Our friends that are social workers there have known this for years now and I'm sure if you Google it you can read all about it.

As a longtime Chicago resident, the exploitation of the city's violence by Trump and his political allies IMO is completely disgusting. There is no effort to understand, problem solve or empathize with the victims. There is no room for an explanation that doesn't fit neatly into a Rush Limbaugh-style talking point. How can one attribute the increase in violence between 2014 and 2015 in Chicago to the "Ferguson effect" when the CPD didn't feel the full force of the Laquan McDonald shooting until Nov 2015 when the video was released? Do you think CPD radically changed their policing style over the events in Ferguson? Come on.

My whole point is: not everything fits neatly into your world view. How can we as a society hope to solve complex, multi-faceted problems if we are so rigid in our thinking?

Anyway, I hope this fully explains why NFL ratings are down. :)

Monroe. Paul posting reference an area he represents. Monroe. Please represent CA and explain some numbers from pages up. About those numbers on fatal shootings by police, 2016 CA 129, TX 79, FL 54, AZ 48, NC 32, CO 31, WA 26, Ohio 26, GA 26, IL 25, AL 21.

Monroe, CA 129, what the hell? Please don't go all "complex and multi-faceted" in your answer.

Fatal Shootings 2016 vs 2015. White 435/495 (-12%), Black 223/258 (-14%), Hispanic 153/172 (-11%)

300BC. Aristotle.

"In all well-attempered governments there is nothing that should be more jealously maintained than the spirit of obedience to the law, more especially in small matters; for transgression creeps in unperceived and at last ruins the state."

The best educations used to include such as the above. Not sure if kids are getting within miles of such these days. Law and order, a novel concept.

Kids also used to learn to read,write and do basic math.
Again,today, not necessarily so.

And don't get me started on how lacking kids are in basic civics,history and geography.