Bit of both, really. Do not fall for the illusion of a golden age. Overall violence peaked in the middle of the 20th century and has been gradually falling.

The approach that does: https://www.svru.co.uk/ / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_Reduction_Unit

You need both carrot and stick, and you need the police to target people who are doing crime and not target people who are not doing crime.

Media distortion driving fear is a whole other category of problem.