I wanted to do this earlier when I saw Jean Meserve interview New York City police commissioner Raymond Kelly on CNN. I forgot. Then a moment ago, I was reminded when I went to the Washington Post website and saw a headline that said, “Killings in D.C. Fewest Since ’86.”
That very well may be true. It’s certainly what Kelly said about New York. It just doesn’t begin to tell the whole story.
A major reason murders are down is because hospitals are able to save more people. I’m not saying it’s the only reason or the biggest reason – because I don’t know. But if statistics came out to say it was the biggest contributing factor, I wouldn’t be surprised.
That Kelly didn’t acknowledge this, nor is it mentioned in the Post story is not surprising. I would have never thought of it myself had I not been tipped off by a doctor friend who works in the E.R.
Today, there is more critical care that can be delivered faster and more precisely than ever before. Hospitals are better equipped. Ambulances are better staffed and equipped. Communications are better than ever.
I really think the more telling statistic is “how many people were shot compared to prior years?” I wonder if that’s even kept?
It seems to me that their ought to be statistics on “attempted murders,” but then again I’d imagine statistics would only count if someone was charged. I wonder what kind of protocols hospitals have for altering the authorities when someone has been shot or stabbed with intent to kill. I’ll have to ask…
Generally speaking, though, murder rates have gone down with other crime rates, as far as I know, so while I’m sure that medical advances are playing a contributing factor, I suspect that we’d be seeing a decrease anyhow.