Why are homicides decreasing in big cities?
The implication of the Post s speculation, I suppose, is that to the extent homicides are declining it s due, at least in part, to less stress over covid. (There s no suggestion that guns have become less available nationwide). But stress over covid has been declining since mid-2021. It seems implausible to attribute a major decline in homicides in 2023 to this alleged cause. Indeed, it s unclear why gang members, the big drivers of the increase in homicides, would shoot people because of covid stress.
The Post and its experts decline to consider the most obvious explanation for the decreases in homicides increased policing, now that Black Lives Matter and efforts to defund the police have receded. But evidence supports this intuitively obvious explanation.