> People aren't reporting assaults? Sounds completely absurd.
One reason this explanation falls flat is that reported and recorded property crimes have risen more. If the city were exceptionally underreporting crimes compared to the past or other cities, you'd see those disappear from the statistics more than e.g. homicides; it's much easier to ignore a stolen phone than it is a dead body.
Could that not be that you need to report/record a crime for insurance purposes?
There might be a good reason people would report some crimes over others for reasons over and above simply for the sake of reporting them/having them solved.
One reason this explanation falls flat is that reported and recorded property crimes have risen more. If the city were exceptionally underreporting crimes compared to the past or other cities, you'd see those disappear from the statistics more than e.g. homicides; it's much easier to ignore a stolen phone than it is a dead body.