In the presidential debate next Tuesday, we can expect to hear a lot about criminal justice policy. Kamala Harris will tout her record as a prosecutor. And Donald Trump will likely claim, as he has before, that “crime is so out of control in our country . . . you can’t walk across the street to get a loaf of bread. You get shot. You get mugged. You get raped.”

Pundits long called crime and criminal justice policy a “wedge issue.” In his classic 1993 Political Dictionary, William Safire defined such an issue: “A hot-button subject that splits a coalition or constituency.” For decades, politicians used concern about violence to stoke anxiety and stir division.

Criminal Justice Policy Doesn’t Reflect the Fact That Violent Crime Is Falling

Then something unexpected happened: crime rates plummeted. New York, once a symbol of urban decay, became the nation’s safest big city. (Come visit!) Democrats and Republicans united for reform. Americans agreed — lawbreakers must face consequences. But public safety and fairness are not competing interests to be balanced against each other — they go hand in hand.

All of which makes recent criminal justice policy trends so worrying. Yes, crime spiked during the pandemic, but violent crime is falling again. Dramatically so in many areas, and for many categories of offense. Homicides dropped by roughly 20 percent in Baltimore and Philadelphia between 2022 and 2023 and by 11 percent in New York City. Criminal justice policy and rhetoric should reflect this. But the politicians who once again seized upon crime as a wedge issue during the pandemic are still howling. Violence is falling, but demagoguery is on the rise. It’s a good moment to take stock, to sort the myths from the truth when it comes to crime and criminal justice policy.

Take bail reform, a criminal justice policy change that has attained an outsized significance. Many politicians use it as a generic term for all changes to reduce overincarceration. When someone is accused of a crime, the New York Post invariably blames “lax bail laws.” Is that a valid concern?

Read the full article about criminal justice policy by Michael Waldman at Brennan Center for Justice.