Quote:
Originally Posted by craigs
Has crime and disorder really increased on trains and buses, or is it that people perceive an increase in crime and disorder because there are fewer orderly, non-criminal riders on the trains and buses?
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It feels worse due to a few combined factors:
1) There likely is a slight increase in the number of homeless, mentally-unstable, or disorderly-types to camping out in stations and subway cars. Train riders often give them grief for being unfeeling individuals, but they are human, and they will go somewhere with the least resistance against them. And emptier trains and train stations offer lot less resistance.
2) I dislike politicizing, but the post George-Floyd BLM era briefly turned much of the world against the police, who were among the primary enforcement in clearing out train & train station squatters.
3) Likewise, it also led to well-meaning but poorly-implemented policies like bail reform. While bail reform is great for low-threat or wrongly-accused people getting their freedom more easily, it also leads to repeat criminals (some of whom are violent and/or mentally unstable) being let out into society.
On the plus side, we now have a greater awareness of mental health due to it being as stigmatized within the so-called "normal" populace. So hopefully, we can continue these efforts in institutionalizing mentally unstable individuals who often end up on the streets due to their inability and lack of resources (financially and via family & friends) to live a "normal" life.