In the article's world, crime happens and is publicized but is trending down or is a relatively rare event that's just played up by news organizations for money. In OP's world, crime happens and is largely unreported save for the most extreme examples. I think the reality is somewhere in the middle, there are a lot of places where "petty" property crime is considered a complete non-event and in those areas the crime rate has dropped because the police simply don't take reports and there's a stigma associated with going to the police because you "just" had you car broken into or were "only" mugged for $40. The flipside to this is that mass casualty events like terrorist attacks and mass shootings are extremely rare, but because of the money in reporting on them and political capital that can be gained fear mongering, they end up widely known and feared within their target demographics.