
I’m a firm believer in data-driven policy making, but there’s always a catch: The data must be accurate. Mark Twain’s comment about data (though he didn’t coin it) — “lies, damn lies and statistics” — comes to mind whenever I read glowing media reports about crime trending downward in New Orleans. For example, local media recently noted that New Orleans’ violent crime rate, which declined significantly in the second half of 2023, continued to decline in the first quarter of this year. Murders dropped 31% compared to the same time...