More data showed violent crime is continuing on a downward trend in California cities. However, an analyst said more work needs to be done to make cities safer.
“I believe it's about an aging population. There's data to suggest that most crimes are committed between the ages of 15 and 29, and we have an aging population, so we have less and less in that category of people,” Frank Zarunyan, a professor at USC’s Sol Price School of Public Policy, told KNX News’ Pete Demetriou.
There are also economic factors.
“Poverty is in the decline as well, which is a good thing, so you're seeing that correlate as well,” Zarunyan said.
As a result of the drop in poverty, Zarunyan explained there is also a drop in drug use and drug-related crimes. Another contribution to the drop in violent crime is the more effective use of technology in policing, he noted.
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“Technology is helping our law enforcement, drone technology, data use, AI is all facilitating the prevention of crime,” Zarunyan said. “So there are a bunch of reasons, in other words, for the decline, especially in the homicide rates or large crimes, but still again, as I said, I'm still not comfortable yet that we've achieved the result that we want to achieve.”
The establishment of better public policy is the best way to ensure crime drops are permanent, he said.
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