I’m not sure there should be a rule in the first place.

Edit: I would think the trick is to separate quotidian crime reports that are essentially one-off events from stories that are more significant. So the buckets could be:

>Rule: articles whose main subject matter is the commission of specific crimes should be posted in the crime thread.

>Exceptions:

>* articles about corruption by public officials.

>* “meta-crime” articles about responses to specific crimes. For example, statements by politicians in response to specific crimes. Or analysis/discussion of crime trends.

>* articles about crimes that are of extraordinary significance to the city as a whole. For example, the attempted subway mass-shooter. Or a story about a terrorist attack or an attempted terrorist attack. This exception would require the judicious use of mod discretion.

>Possibly other exceptions.

One concern is the constant tug of war here between habitual crime-posters and habitual “fuck the police” posters. If posts about crime are banned because they give the impression that the city is a hellhole, it would be a shame if the sub continues to get spammed with stories about alleged police misconduct. This isn’t to say that police misconduct doesn’t happen. But crime happens, too. And allowing anti-police posts while banning crime posts seems like putting a thumb on the scale of an ongoing debate about policing and public safety. But that may be unavoidable if we’re banning crime posts.

Just some off the cuff thoughts.