The Murder Rate Nosedives (with Crime Data Analyst Jeff Asher)
Host Stephen Gutowski and guest Jeff Asher discuss the falling murder rate, what the numbers tell us, and why we know we can trust them.
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (chrt.fm) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
This week, we're looking at crime data and the unprecedented drop in the murder rate.
That's why we have Jeff Asher from AH Datalytics back on the show. He has been following and reporting crime data for decades, and he explains how dramatic the downturn in murder is compared to the incredible spike we saw just a few years ago. He said 2023 saw a record drop in murder, and 2024 is on pace to see the same.
Asher discussed how crime stats are calculated, addressed some of the critiques of them, and explained why he believes murder data is especially trustworthy this year. He also noted violent crime and property crime haven't followed murder. While they, too, have fallen in recent years, they also never saw the same kind of horrendous spike that murder did in 2020 and 2021.
Special Guest: Jeff Asher.