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Article: The fear of crime. (Here) (Column)
- Article from:
- St. Louis Journalism Review
- Article date:
- September 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 SJR St. Louis Journalism Review. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Crime dominates the news. Television leads most of their local news reports wit incidents of crime.
Fear of crime among the public is widespread.
The White House pushes and Congress passes a multi-billion dollar crime bill.
Does the news coverage, the fear, the legislation reflect reality?
Not according to many relevant statistics, not according to the opinions of man experts in the field, and not according to St. Louis Police Chief Clarence Harmon.
Statistics, of course, are always sloppy and can be misleading. For example, national data for the 10-year-period ending in 1992 shows crimes per 1,000 inhabitants has gone from 52 to 57 per ...