Taking care with causal claims
Journalists frequently use language implying that policing, prosecution, and prison are effective means of reducing crime without presenting any evidence to support those claims. Share the following statements from real news articles with students. For each one, students should rewrite the statements to remove the implication that the two are implicitly related.
Statements:
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“Dallas homicide numbers dropped by 13% in 2021. How did Chief Eddie Garcia pull that off?” Source: The Dallas Morning News
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“December felonies dropped 11.6% as mayor, NYPD see real progress in making NYC safer” Source: amNY
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“Amendments to the definition of theft could help deter high-value retail crimes if the state legislature passes a bill, which was proposed in the Washington State House Public Safety Committee on Friday.” Source: Columbia Basin Herald
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“Is it fair to blame Gascón [the District Attorney] alone for L.A.’s violent crime surge?” Source: The Los Angeles Times