Crime Reduction in the US
The crime rate has been reported to go down in the recent past in the US. Citizens born after 1973 have not been exposed to the previous state of insecurity in the US. Crime decline has been associated with reforms in police departments and the vigilance of the public in security-related issues. The period between 1960 and 1990 has been marked by high rates of crimes with cities being abandoned and destroyed from frequent crimes. Crime decline after the 1990s is not merely an issue to ignore because the measures that have been behind the fall should be kept in check. The US should put all the available efforts to ensure that the state of insecurity does not go back to the old days. Different parties have, however, transformed the cities and urban centers with the police playing the most significant role. Several factors have been associated with the crime decline, with the Americans applauding every effort by the government to have the rates remain low.
The reforms made in the prison department have seen most criminals being incarcerated. Unlike in the past, where criminals would easily walk freely after committing crimes, the prison departments have designed strategies to have more criminals behind bars (Lofstrom & Raphael, 2016). Therefore, Crime cases have been decreasing in every field. The US had turned out to be a peaceful haven, unlike 50 years ago when living in the streets posed high risks. The locking up of people who would otherwise be committing crimes serves the nation a significant relief from the burden of crime. Several scholars have argued that a broader appraisal for the reduction in crime should undoubtedly go to the incarceration policies. Besides, individuals who are left outside the prison will not be willing to risk their freedom outside prison by engaging in crime. Therefore, individuals have been choosing to abide by the law instead of committing crimes that will lead them to prison. Generally, the reforms in prison departments have contributed in one way or another in the drastic decline in crime levels in the US.
The police department has gone through significant changes with more police being dispatched to the streets. The backbone of crime is the state of the roads. Criminals had been taking advantage of the unpatrolled streets to carry out crimes (Kovandzic, Sloan & Vieraitis, 2014). However, the increase in the number of police officers in the streets has seen a significant decrease in criminal cases. Generally, criminals will not commit their intended crimes if the police are on the look-out. Therefore, the citizens will be saved from situations that would have happened to them if the police officers were not around. Also, the response time in the event of criminal activity is significantly lower if the police officers are on the streets. Besides, less response time for illegal activities means that more arrests are made and that the number of criminals on the streets goes down. Generally, the investment in police availability on the streets has shown significant results, with the cases of crime reducing significantly over the years.
Different cities and urban centers have developed strategies to deal with crime increase. The strategies designed by the cities have been improving peace in the streets over the years. One of the most important strategies is the broken-window policing (Weisburd, Hinkle, Braga, & Wooditch, 2015). Americans had lived in fear for a long time. The fact that crime would happen at any time had deprived the Americans the pride of identifying themselves with the streets. However, New York City started a plan to implement a peace strategy that involved making residents feel safer and proud of their neighborhoods. The strategy was later borrowed in the neighboring cities and worked efficiently in reducing the crime cases. Besides, the broken-window policing strategy is flexible, and every city decides on the application of the policy. Therefore, the flexibility of the broken-window policing can be associated with the success of the plan. Generally, the strategized efforts by cities and urban centers have been practical in providing positive results in the fight against crime.
The incorporation of technology in the fight against crimes has been a significant step towards curbing crime. The 1990s marked the introduction of technological methods of handling crime in the police departments. For example, CompStat was introduced in the 1990s to help in tracking crime events and giving the trends of crime occurrences (Vito, Reed, & Walsh, 2017). The tracking and analysis of crime trends have been useful in developing strategies to fight against crime. Police departments are in a better position to deal with criminal cases if the information about the previous crimes has been adequately analyzed. Also, the observance of crime patterns ensures that police can predict the probability of crime in an area and thus deploy more personnel to the area. Moreover, decisions like the number of personnel to dispatched have been made expertly with the introduction of technology.
Moreover, the government has become lenient towards the ownership of weapons by the Americans. The gun laws have specifically been made tolerant of allowing as many Americans as possible possess guns. Although the attempt may be viewed as a risk to national peace, the move has contributed towards reducing the number of crime cases. The initial target groups for crime activities were unarmed civilians who had no protective powers. However, the possession of guns has given the Americans a chance to defend themselves from criminals. Besides, criminals do not have an easy time targeting an individual who owns and efficiently uses a gun. The move to allow Americans to own guns has been helpful to the gun owners, also, to the police who have been helped by citizens with guns to bring down criminals. Additionally, the pressure on the police department has been reduced. Citizens can adequately protect themselves from less serious criminal attempts while the police officers try to deal with serious crime events.
The US economy has been growing for the past several years. Currently, the US boasts having one of the best economic growths in the world. A growing economy means that the nation is in a position to provide employment and other opportunities for the citizens (Friedson & Sharkey, 2015). Therefore, the percentage of idle Americans has been reducing gradually with the growth in the economy. The growing economy has absorbed individuals who would have chosen crime as an alternative way of earning a living. Besides, the government has improved essential facilities such as schools to ensure that Americans do not have an excuse for engaging in crime for life. Generally, the growth in the economy has been a positive gesture towards the decline in crime levels.
The long term decline in crime has been witnessed in the whole of the United States of America. The initial fall was, however, seen in some cities such as New York City. Other cities eventually followed suit, and America has finally become a peaceful nation (Blumstein, & Wallman, 2006). However, the current leadership needs to adjust the leadership strategies that have appeared to be causing tension among the Americans. For example, the comments from the government concerning the immigrants caused tension between the blacks and the whites. Such tensions are not healthy for the wellbeing of the nation. The government should instead seek ways of enhancing the existing peace instead of causing rifts among the Americans.
In sum, several factors have been associated with crime decline, with the Americans applauding every effort by the government to have the rates remain the law. The reforms made in the prison department have seen most criminals being incarcerated. The police department has gone through significant changes with more police being dispatched to the streets. Also, the pressure on the police department has been reduced. Citizens can adequately protect themselves from less serious criminal attempts while the police officers try to deal with serious crime events. Additionally, the growth in the economy has been a positive gesture towards the decline in crime levels. Generally, crime rates have declined throughout the United States.
References
Blumstein, A., & Wallman, J. (2006). The Crime Drop in America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Friedson, M., & Sharkey, P. (2015). Violence and neighborhood disadvantage after the crime decline. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 660(1), 341-358.
Karmen, A. (2000). New York Murder Mystery: The true story behind the crime crash of the 1990’s. New York: New York University Press.
Kovandzic, T. V., Sloan III, J. J., & Vieraitis, L. M. (2014). “Striking out” as crime reduction policy: The impact of “three strikes” laws on crime rates in US cities. Justice Quarterly, 21(2), 207-239.
Lofstrom, M., & Raphael, S. (2016). The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 664(1), 196-220.
Vito, G. F., Reed, J. C., & Walsh, W. F. (2017). Police executives’ and managers’ perspectives on Compstat. Police Practice and Research, 18(1), 15-25.
Weisburd, D., Hinkle, J. C., Braga, A. A., & Wooditch, A. (2015). Understanding the mechanisms underlying broken windows policing: The need for evaluation evidence. Journal of research in crime and delinquency, 52(4), 589-608.