Charles Fain Lehman on Why Cities Got Safer

Charles Fain Lehman on Why Cities Got Safer

June 30, 2026 · 1h 4m

About this episode

Yascha Mounk and Charles Fain Lehman discuss the decline in violent crime due to strategic policing and why Baltimore did not experience similar improvements.

Yascha Mounk and Charles Fain Lehman explore how strategic policing drove the decline in violent crime—and why Baltimore was left behind. Charles Fain Lehman is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor at City Journal, where he covers crime, policing, and urban policy. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Charles Fain Lehman discuss why Baltimore failed to follow the crime declines that transformed other American cities, what the evidence tells us about why strategic policing works, and how focused deterrence breaks cycles of retaliatory violence. Watch the conversation below—the full video is behind the paywall on this page! If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone. Email: leonora.barclay@persuasion.community Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay. Connect with us! Spotify | Apple X: @Yascha_Mounk & @JoinPersuasion YouTube: Yascha Mounk, Persuasion LinkedIn: Persuasion Community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Yascha Mounk

Guest: Charles Fain Lehman

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Manhattan Institute, City Journal

Places: Baltimore

More episodes of The Good Fight

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Good Fight podcast page.