What we know about crime in DC, briefly explained

This story appeared in The Logoff, a every day e-newsletter that helps you keep knowledgeable concerning the Trump administration with out letting political information take over your life. Subscribe right here.Welcome to The Logoff: As President Donald Trump’s takeover of Washington, DC, continues, his Justice Division is launching an investigation into whether or not DC police falsified crime knowledge.What’s Trump alleging? In a Monday night Fact Social put up, Trump wrote that “D.C. gave Faux Crime numbers to be able to create a false phantasm of security,” referring to a decline in violent crime that runs counter to his makes an attempt to color the town as “overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals.”What do DC crime numbers really say? Current knowledge suggests violent crime in DC is considerably down after a spike in 2023. Final yr, violent crime reached its lowest level in additional than 30 years, and DC officers say it has continued to fall this yr.Are there really points with DC crime statistics? Trump isn’t the primary one to allege points with crime knowledge — however there’s comparatively little proof of a systemic downside. In Might, the town positioned a police commander on go away to research whether or not he was manipulating crime knowledge, and the top of DC’s police union has forged doubt on official numbers.Each of these needs to be taken with a grain of salt — DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has since acknowledged that “we don’t imagine [the investigation] implicates many instances,” and the decline in violent crime in DC tracks with a nationwide development. Violent crime within the US has fallen dramatically since a spike throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, and 2025 is on monitor to have the bottom homicide price for the reason that FBI started maintaining dependable data in 1960.Is Trump’s DC takeover impacting crime? Not likely — regardless of Trump’s claims of false knowledge and widespread lawlessness, the Nationwide Guard troops and federal legislation enforcement he has deployed to DC are largely staying close to vacationer and nightlife areas of the town, and lots of of their arrests have been immigration-related, relatively than addressing violent crime.And with that, it’s time to log out…This piece from my colleague Kyndall Cunningham about matcha, and what’s driving its present recognition, is a good learn that will get at a much bigger query — how will we get influenced right into a development within the first place, and the way do these traits work together with our precise tastes? Perhaps, she concludes, “being a matcha individual in 2025 is nearly desirous to be an individual.” You’ll be able to learn her full story right here — have an awesome night, and we’ll see you again right here tomorrow!