Dangerous City: Territorial Stigmatization, Crime, and Public Safety Political Discourse on Cities

This article examines crime rhetoric in and about the nation's three biggest cities, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. The pandemic's aftermath caused a brief increase in urban crime, but crime levels mostly returned to normal by 2023/2024. In this article, I content analyze speeches on crime and public safety of the three cities’ respective mayors, state governors (all Democrats), as well as presidents Biden and Trump, comparing the rhetoric to the actual crime data in all three cities. The analysis reveals a growing concern with crime and public safety by all Democratic politicians. Paradoxically, crime data by all three cities’ police departments show a decrease in all violent crimes almost at the same time as the “public safety” rhetoric increases. I conclude that while political discourse may fuel public perceptions of crime, public opinion seems to be impacted by impressions of “social disorder,” which many perceive as a proxy for crime.