- The suburban demographics than were different.
- The 80s crime rhetoric said, "we're not worried about blacks as long as they don't commit crimes", while today's immigration rhetoric says that the very presence of immigrants is a threat.
- Crime was perceived as being disproportionately perpetrated by teenagers, so the crime issue appealed to anxiety about single parents, permissive parents, underage drinking, teenagers valueing their friends over their family, truancy, teen smoking, sexually active teenagers, the media's perceived influence on the young, etc.
