Crime going down is better than it going up, but officialdom shouldn’t pat itself on the back too hard.

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You can’t reduce crime simply by redefining what is and isn’t a crime. Many actions that were once crimes are now chalked by city bureaucrats up to “social disorder” and no longer show up in crime stats.

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In other cases, crimes are so common and police response to them is so indifferent — like theft of bikes and tools and law furniture from private yards — that many victims no longer bother to report them.

An unreported crime is an uncounted crime and, therefore, doesn’t show up in official crime figures. If enough crimes go unreported, the crime rate goes down. On paper.

Consider what deputy city manager Jennifer Flamen told city council before Christmas.

“Edmonton’s violent crime rate is now lower than both the national and provincial averages,” Flamen claimed,........

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