Over the last two years, there has been a great deal of arguing about the prevalence of violent crime in America and how the national crime rate is changing. The president and attorney general say it’s soaring. Criminal justice reformers aren’t so certain. A Who’s Who of crime researchers and experts gathered to tackle the question at the Smart on Crime Innovations conference at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City last month.

The panelists were Thomas Abt of Harvard’s Center for International Development, Adam Gelb of Pew’s public safety performance project, the Brennan Center for Justice’s Ames Grawert, The Vera Institute’s Jim Parsons and John Jay professor David Kennedy. The Marshall Project’s Tom Meagher moderated the discussion.

These excerpts have been edited for length and clarity. You can watch the conversation in its entirety here.

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