These federal investments are essential for crime reduction programs at the local, neighborhood level that combat community violence, such as after-school, employment, and education programs, Piquero stresses to TIME.
Barring another pandemic-level predicament, he expects these drops in crime to continue with the continued federal support trickling down to local jurisdictions.
“We’re much safer now than we’ve been in the last, certainly six years, and certainly since the height of the crack trade in the 1980s and in the strife and unrest of the 60s,” he adds “So I’m very I’m optimistic, but it’s also not the time to take our foot off the pedal right now.”
Shifts in technology and culture
Outside of more trackable factors like federal funding, Gelb, CCJ’s president, believes a host of other contributors have worked together to reduce crime rates.
Among them, he contends, is technology.
From the growing frequency of cameras outside of homes and businesses; to more advanced criminal justice surveillance techniques and interconnected databases; to digital wallets, which have made cash robberies less common, Gelb says the increasingly technological world is causing crime to falter.
