Professor John Pfaff’s research into U.S. crime was cited in a Slate article.
Further, crime rates are an inherently local issue. A focus on national trends risks overlooking the unique issues that influence crime in each city and county. Further, the Brennan Center’s data is again focused on just 30 major cities. When analyzing the crime rise between 2015 and 2016, Fordham law professor and statistician John Pfaff found that just 44 percent of the rise in murder rates over this time could be attributed to cities with populations larger than 250,000. In other words, it’s not possible to illustrate the entire picture of violent crime in the U.S. with an analysis that excludes smaller cities. It’s also worth noting that year-to-date data projections like the Brennan Center’s latest don’t always hold up when the end of the year rolls around.