# Fall in crime linked to lead in petrol/gas ... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 22, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fall-in-crime-linked-to-lead-in-petrol-gas/686674 "2014-04-22T13:05:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fall-in-crime-linked-to-lead-in-petrol-gas/686674/41 "2014-04-25T02:14:46Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Our police are under a lot of pressure these days to keep the crime statistics low or lose their jobs. This is a good motivator to try a variety of solutions at the “in the trenches” level. The problem is, the same rise and fall seems to have happened no matter which approach was tried in a given city. Some ought to have worked better than others if it was all about trying a variety of solutions. > [@](#): > > Many of our large cities are having budgeting problems and cutting some services has been seen as solution by some city management. > > If police are overworked they often don’t get to a crime scene until after eyewitnesses may have given up and gone home. No police report = no crime committed. > > There is pressure on the courts to lighten the load on our overcrowded jails. This can be demoralizing to the police force who risk their safety to secure a criminal only to see him on the street in a week. The implication with that is that some police may lessen their efforts after this happens repeatedly. > > A police department can also lessen the amount of crime committed in the public’s eye by determining exactly how to charge out a crime. Disturbing the peace is an especially handy charge for hiding minor street violence. > > And then there are those reports which just go missing. Murders can’t be hidden. And the changes in the murder rate are consistent with this theory. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fall-in-crime-linked-to-lead-in-petrol-gas/686674/42 "2014-04-25T12:32:32Z")
I had a curious thought about this last night while watching something on F1. It might be quite interesting to trace the history of safety in sport and in wider life in the context of reductions in lead pollution, though hugely difficult to separate all the noise (especially the impact of individuals like Jackie Stewart). In the wider society I seem to recall health and safety in the workplace becoming an issue at some point in the 80s … was just idly musing on that idea; wondered about industrial deaths, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fall-in-crime-linked-to-lead-in-petrol-gas/686674/43 "2014-04-25T12:51:42Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > The problem is, the same rise and fall seems to have happened no matter which approach was tried in a given city. Some ought to have worked better than others if it was all about trying a variety of solutions.Murders can’t be hidden. And the changes in the murder rate are consistent with this theory. Better paramedic response times and improved life-saving medical techniques also reduce murder rates. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fall-in-crime-linked-to-lead-in-petrol-gas/686674/44 "2014-04-25T12:56:56Z")
But also what do more efficient, more powerful, more available murder weapons do? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fall-in-crime-linked-to-lead-in-petrol-gas/686674.md?page=2)