No, I was being sarcastic. Of course not. All things can be used as tools.
Also, which crimes have dropped? Which crimes are reported? I know someone in NYC who recently had her place burglarized...she didn't reported because it was too much of a hassle. It's not that I don't believe you, because I do. And yes, I know the crime stats given by the FBI, etc
It's just that with certain areas, especially when the politicians get involved, they want things to seem a certain way. Certain areas ared deemed safer now than before. Or certain crimes in nice neighborhoods or counties don't hit the papers.
This nation itself in the midst of a heroin and prescription drug epidemic like we haven't seen before.
When you can go to your local grocery store (regardless of place) and find someone passed out in a bathroom stall with a needle in their arm, there is a problem.
This nation is literally falling apart at the seams.
Well, Guiliani cleaned up NYC big time, especially around the time square area. Prostitution, violence, drugs.
In terms of violence in LA, things have definitely gotten much better since the mid-90's, though some parts, like Watts, are still very bad.
That sea change in violence and its ramifications is part of a national trend, though the effects in Los Angeles have been particularly dramatic. Across the nation, the homicide rate — the number of people killed per 100,000 population — increased from about four per 100,000 in the 1950s to about 10 in the early 1990s; since then, it has dropped to about 5.5. The decline in Los Angeles has been far greater: In 1993, the homicide rate was 30.5 per 100,000; this year, it's on track to end at about six. As city leaders like to note, not since Eisenhower was president has Los Angeles been this safe.
Obviously, "this safe" is still not good enough, but better than what it was.
