See if you can follow this:
- Bank robberies are UP - these are reported to the FBI. Lying to the FBI is a very big no-no. People go to prison for this;
- Auto Thefts are UP - Insurance companies report to stock holders and won't pay out without quite a bit of paperwork;
- Shootings are UP - the Tribune, either by accident or by design, published the actual number of shootings as compared to last year;
- Murders are UP - it is extremely difficult to hide a dead body, Drew Peterson aside.
We can't locate the Arson numbers at the moment, but it was UP earlier in the year. No idea if it leveled off or dropped at the moment.
Now, you can prove that these crimes are UP, but you want to believe everything else is down? Not just down, but down by 9% to 15% according to Rahm and McNumbers? Go read the CompStat book we've touted here a few times. Go look at the Milwaukee PD that is in all sorts of hot water for downgrading assaults, batteries and other crimes. Go look at any other metropolitan police force that is using the CompStat method of counting crime
We're leading you to the water here, but you're still drinking the Kool-Aid. Wake up.