Backing up your claims

Review 1-2 of the exemplar articles listed below with students to illustrate how a journalist can inform readers about the evidence behind crime reduction policies. Have students choose one of the practice articles and rewrite the parts of the story in which the journalist presents claims that are not supported by research. (Note: You may want to provide students time in class for research, or you may assign for homework.)

Exemplar Articles:

• Alfonseca, K. (2022, March 19). As crimes rise, battles rage on about police funding. ABC News. “A University of Dayton Law Review study said it found that [increasing incarceration] did not reduce crime rates. Research in the Police Journal also failed to find a relationship between increased police presence and crime deterrence.”

• Dewan, S. (2021, November 8). ‘Re-Fund the Police’? Why It Might Not Reduce Crime. The New York Times. “Perhaps the biggest drawback of the available evidence on policing is that it does not compare the benefit of more officers on the street with the benefit of expanding other measures that have been shown to reduce crime: drug treatment, mental health crisis responders, or summer jobs for young people.” 

• Lewis, N. (2023, February 27). What the Panic Over Shoplifting Reveals About American Crime Policy. The Marshall Project. “A 2018 report from Pew bears this out. Since 2000, at least 39 states have increased the value of stolen goods required to trigger a felony charge. States that increased their thresholds experienced the same overall decline in property crimes over the last two decades as states that did not, the analysts found.”

• Spector, J., & Gronewold, A. (2022, April 11). New York Democrats pare back nation-leading bail reform amid crime wave. Politico. “There is no data showing that New York’s bail reform has fueled the spike in crime that has been evident across the country.” 

Practice Articles:

• Carpenter, M. (2022, May 4). Critics: Bail reform measure approved by lawmakers a 'get out of jail free card'. Hawaii News Now. 

• Goodman, D. (2021, October 10). A Year After 'Defund,' Police Departments Get Their Money Back (The New York Times). 

• Petrella, D., & Munks, J. (2021, January 9). Police unions, others air concerns over criminal justice proposal pushed by Legislative Black Caucus: 'This bill goes beyond reasonable reform'. Chicago Tribune.