My understanding is that for some violent crimes, some cities, like New York, simply stopped reporting statistics to the FBI, so in national statistics, it appears their crime rates are dropping - and leftist/woke politicians will claim as much.
Some big cities have put out a whole list of crimes where police will not respond. For example, suppose someone breaks into your car, but is gone before you notice it.
The police will not respond. You’re just told to report it by phone.
At some point, people will say, why bother reporting? And then the crime stats magically improve.
IIRC, it’s all good if you keep it under $975 in CA.
You’re right. Unreported crime plus the decriminalization of several crimes probably account for any decline in criminality.
Some places you can do all the crimes you wish at night because LE closes up shop and goes home.