Lies, Damn Lies, .....

...and Statistics. This is what passes for reporting nowadays:

• Mack Julion has always been in love with Chicago. A Southwest Side resident, he swore he would never flee to the suburbs, playfully mocking friends as not being "real Chicagoans."
  
  But now, crime in his neighborhood and across the city has worn that devotion thin.
  
  [...] Julion's sense that Chicago's crime problem is growing worse is shared by nearly half of the city dwellers who responded to a new poll for Tribune/WGN. But the reality is that overall crime in Chicago is down when compared with last year and homicides are nearly flat, with no significant uptick compared with recent years.

"Overall crime" is a misleading statistic since upticks and surges in certain crimes mask declines in others. Batteries may be up while rapes and arsons are down. In fact, the Tribune cites these types of statistical shenanigans in the article:

• Overall crime, including violent crimes such as criminal sexual assault and robbery, are down, according to official crime statistics through the end of June. For instance, shootings are down slightly compared with January through June of last year. The facts, however, have done little to prevent perception from becoming reality for people in all parts of the city.

Let's hop over to the Sun Times for an interesting paragraph:

• Police statistics suggest it's getting increasingly dangerous on the street for officers. Nearly 3,160 officers reported they were victims of assault and battery in 2008, almost double the 1,583 officers who said they were attacked in 2003. About 35 percent of those officers in 2008 were injured, according to the department.

Almost double the number of officers attacked over a five year span, and that was two years ago. Yet "overall crime" is supposed to be down? We're supposed to believe that Chicago Police Officers are the only category of victims that has increased at a rate far outpacing society at large?

So it comes down to citizen perceptions? And who are you going to believe? The "statistics" released by a mayor desperate to prop up his reelection chances and the chances of his heirs? Or your own goddamn lying eyes?