“There has been a surge of assertions about rising crime recently. At the Republican convention in July, GOP nominee Donald Trump said, ‘Decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed by this administration’s rollback of criminal enforcement.’ The Manhattan Institute’s Heather Mac Donald echoed these concerns, noting that homicides increased by nearly 17 percent in the 56 largest U.S. cities last year and citing sharp rises in Baltimore, Chicago and the District. In an op-ed in last Sunday’s Post, Sean Kennedy and Parker Abt made the same case.”