Blame recreation: As shootings and homicides rose this yr throughout a number of main U.S. cities, some officers have blamed the uptick on anti-police sentiment. Yet if that had been the first trigger, then all crime must be up, one professor noticed. Instead, this yr, legal actions like larceny and drug offenses have fallen by as a lot as 57%. Further undermining this narrative is the truth that violent crimes had been already ticking up in a number of cities earlier than protests started.

So what’s actually in charge for the rise in shootings? It’s probably a mixture of things — from the financial downturn of the Covid-19 pandemic to the surge in gun gross sales. It’s vital to set the file straight, writes Brentin Mock: “The framing of the problem matters because it means the difference between policy solutions aimed at directing more resources to community institutions, and the current federal strategy focus, which is on bringing in more police.” Today on CityLab: Don’t Blame Police Protests for Gun Violence Spikes