Max Ehrenfreund. . ."I went looking for the uptick in murders in U.S. cities."

Crime is not a static thing and what Mr. Ehrenfreund at Wonkblog found might surprise you; here is an excerpt:

     Crime appears to be on the rise in some cities, and that has cops and ordinary people concerned. Police chiefs from around the country met last month to talk about the situation. In Washington last week, there's concern about a spike in murders. The alarming headline "Murder Rates Rising Sharply in Many Cities" appeared on the front page of the New York Times [emphasis added] on Tuesday morning.
     Overall, though, things haven't changed much from the past several years, at least judging by the number of homicides committed in major cities. While the number of homicides has increased in many big cities, the increases are moderate, not more than they were a few years ago. Meanwhile, crime has declined in other cities.
     Overall, most cities are still far safer than they were two decades ago, and virtually all of that improvement has remained. That's when the rate of violent crime began a long, steep decline nationally.

What is happening in West Palm Beach of late is very big news and it should be. But that shouldn't skew the trends nationally; that is very good news you'll probably never read about.