Excerpt from file 1-18-43-104

title: ongoing research 27-924

File stole from Bat computer Jan 18 by one Matthew A. McGinnis.

Gotham has always had plenty of criminals. The flavor of criminal however seems to differentiate when compared to other major cities. The super-criminal element of Metropolis, Coast City, New York and half a dozen others are comprised of two elements with very little deviation. The first of these are the metahumans, and while they can be troublesome they also have their limitations. The second element is comprised of criminals who use advance science to provide them with meta level abilities. The second is arguably more dangerous because of the potential for the ability to be passed from one person to another. In Gotham, there is also a third element: the criminally insane.

Given the high percentage of criminals in Gotham's history with no superhuman abilities it is little wonder that I have been sighted as a cause. It is true that I use means that few, if any, other heroes employ. I maintain the opinion that my presence has done more good then harm.

The question then became, would the trend continue without Batman?

The patterns that emerged after my retirement have been analyzed by many and the results are just as varied. Very few of these had all the facts.

I have to wonder if I would have seen the patterns forming. Cutting myself off completely from that world was necessary, I still believe that. I would not have been able to let go if the cut had not been clean. Then again here I am, so perhaps this was inevitable.

With Terry now active I am able to draw a baseline for the more recent years. Predicting human behavior always has an element of guesswork attached but in these numbers it becomes a mater of statistics.

The introduction of the MGS and Barbara becoming commissioner are the two other factors that seem to have contributed to shaping the data, both of which are to be expected. I am still collecting and correlating data from other cities with similar population sizes in order to analyze the full effect of the MGS on crime rates.

The issue of Barbara requires more consideration. Is she and her methods the cause of a drop in crime rates or was her predecessor simply unable to maintain the level set and maintained by Jim? Is she simply the guide that has allowed a return to the established baseline?

More data is needed in order to fully map the effects of these factors and of my absence in general.