Blake Wiers

Plumb Crazy Blake Wiers

Was the gas in their car better at fighting crime than the officers inside?For most of the twentieth century, leaded gas was sold in the USA. Lead is hazardous to your mental and physical health. Meanwhile, America was facing an urban crime wave, and people were moving to the safe suburbs. Twenty years after the introduction of unleaded gas in 1975, crime began to fall. The police were rewarded with tougher laws and military gear, and the prison population more than doubled. PLUMB CRAZY: The Secret History of Cops, Cars and Crime in America tells the little known story of unleaded gas and the '90s crime drop.