Local culture, local economics, and perhaps local police professionalism may be key drivers to lower gun homicide rates … even when the potential for street gang activity is high. Take-Aways Some, slightly fragile, indication that the professionalism of a law enforcement agency is associated with lower gun murder rates Cops and Gangs In our rather detailed Top 15 Murder County study, we noticed that among the most murderous counties, there was a  combination of low police staffing and a high percentage of the population that were males of street gang age. With new and very detailed data via the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), we thought to look at cities instead of counties, knowing that core cities (Chicago) more that the surrounding county (Cook County) might offer some validation of what we saw at the county level. But … nothing is that straightforward. Crime data remains messy. Less messy than … Continue reading →