[T-Bird45]

The statistics seem questionable. A ban doesn’t surprise me a bit.

[Cboldt]

The latest report is 2014, it tracks back 5 years or so. In that timeframe, the stats of reported criminal activity show a fairly steady decline.

I'm with you, I think the books are cooked. But even if they aren't, nothing remarkable happened in 2013 that wasn't also apparent in 2012, 2011, etc. Each year saw a reduction from the year previous.