Ferguson Effect Persisted Through 2016

Heather MacDonald writes in City Journal that the Ferguson Effect is the only explanation for the spike in violent crime seen in 2016.

What I have called the Ferguson Effect—a drop in proactive policing leading to rising crime—is the only explanation for the crime increase that matches the data. The country has just elected a new president who understands that the false narrative about the police has led to the breakdown of law and order in inner cities. If the crime situation improves in the coming year, it will be because Black Lives Matter calumnies no longer have an echo chamber in the White House and because cops on the beat believe that they will now be supported for trying to restore order where informal social control has broken down.

LEOs of my acquaintance are hopeful the Trump presidency will bring about more support for their work and sacrifice. Let's bring back proactive policing; ironically, most of the lives saved thereby will be black.