In New York, and the country more broadly, the scary thing isn’t that crime is high, though it is, though not as high as in previous crime waves. What’s scary is that people no longer think the personal protective measures they used in the past apply. Previous crime waves were a matter of street thugs and professional criminals, and you could take steps in anticipation of their actions. Don’t walk in the park at night—criminals like darkness. Take the subway in rush hour—criminals don’t like witnesses. Don’t be on Main Street at 1 a.m., but do go to the afternoon parade.
You could calculate, thereby increasing your margin of safety.
Now such measures are less relevant because what you see on the street and in the news tells you that more than in the past we’re at the mercy of the seriously mentally ill. You can’t calculate their actions because they can’t be predicted, because they’re crazy.
That is the anxiety-builder. And it’s not only the evidence of your eyes. There was a paper recently by the Manhattan Institute’s Stephen Eide. New York hardly bothers to arrest anyone now, but as Mr. Eide noted, “inmates with any mental disorder and who have been charged with a violent felony constitute a growing share of the city jail population.” People feel uniquely unprotected.
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