Criminal-justice practitioners should concentrate on ways of keeping people out of the justice system rather than obsess over data showing that crime totals are rising or falling slightly in many cities, a police chief and prosecutor told a webinar Thursday on "crime at election time." The session was sponsored by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School and a group called Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime & Incarceration. Data and trends contradict claims by former president Trump and others that crime in the U.S. is increasing, Brennan Center experts said. A compilation of 2023 data that the FBI released last month shows a continuation of crime's downward trend since the pandemic, based on data from police agencies covering 94.3% of the population. Some critics have contended that the FBI numbers might understate the crime rate.
Shon Barnes, police chief of Madison, Wi., contended during the webinar that police leaders can "create a safe society" by using a variety of approaches that he termed "stratified policing," including evidence-based practices, problem-oriented policing and "restorative justice." Barnes said an emphasis on crime prevention in his city had resulted in a reduction in the arrest total for black males, who are typically accused of a disproportionate participation in crime. Barnes criticized candidates for office who "play on people's fear of crime for political gain." Beth McCann, district attorney in Denver, said she has concentrated on providing more treatment for crime suspects' drug and mental health problems so "they don't clog up the justice system." McCann cited a Youth Handgun Intervention Program in Denver that has young gun-law violators meet with parents and counselors over seven weeks to discuss ways of improving their behavior. The recidivism rate for participants is under 6 percent, she said, compared with 50% in the justice system as a whole.