Of course, all the law and order talk around the midterms is nothing new. Crime has been a focal point in political campaigns for decades (who could forget Willie Horton?). And it gained even more attention in 2020 when Donald Trump tried to skewer his opponents by claiming—without much evidence—that the Black Lives Matter movement and protests to defund police caused widespread violence in Democratic-run cities. Similar dynamics are at play this year, but with a twist: What makes the current election season different from the others is that, unfortunately, as politicians spend heavily to fearmonger about crime, it’s now harder than ever for voters to fact-check their claims—because the most recent crime data collected by the federal government is abysmally incomplete.
