“Bail reform caused the crime wave! Letting criminals out is insane!”

What You Say

BJS victimization surveys show property and violent crime trends are complex — blaming bail reform requires isolating one policy in multivariate data. Cash bail jails poor people pretrial regardless of risk; reform targets wealth-based detention. Cities that reformed bail didn't uniformly see spikes; many factors include pandemic disruptions and gun availability. Fearmongering substitutes anecdotes for BJS statistics.