Major Cities' Plummeting Crime Rates Mystifying - Leaves Experts Scratching Their Heads In What Is Going On. | |
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Saxon (777)
User ID: 566252 United States 07/20/2009 07:48 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: Major Cities' Plummeting Crime Rates Mystifying - Leaves Experts Scratching Their Heads In What Is Going On. Welcome to the new time line T83. Ophiuchus - The Great Serpent Wrestler and Tamer [link to z14.invisionfree.com] |
mercury2
User ID: 231495 France 07/20/2009 07:49 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: Major Cities' Plummeting Crime Rates Mystifying - Leaves Experts Scratching Their Heads In What Is Going On. We had threads about homeless people disappearing, maybe whoever is disappearing the homeless people is disappearing some thugs as well. Plus hasn't it been in the news that a lot of illegal aliens are going back to Mexico because of the lack of work in the US? |
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Celtic (Keltic)
User ID: 701306 United Kingdom 07/20/2009 07:52 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: Major Cities' Plummeting Crime Rates Mystifying - Leaves Experts Scratching Their Heads In What Is Going On. I read the headline, and a suggestion popped straight into my mind. People may be developing their conscience, coming together and recognising they have more in common with eachother than they had thought. Maybe they've realized they've been taking things out on the wrong people all this time and are beginning to see who the real enemy of the people is. That would be really amazing and heartening, but it doesn't mean there's any truth to what I'm saying. We live in hope. Last Edited by CelticLegends on 07/20/2009 07:57 PM It is the Thunderbolt that steers the Universe - Heraclitus |
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re User ID: 728583 United Kingdom 07/20/2009 07:59 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: Major Cities' Plummeting Crime Rates Mystifying - Leaves Experts Scratching Their Heads In What Is Going On. Published on Monday, July 20, 2009 by The Washington Post Quoting: Nightshade 09[link to www.commondreams.org] Major Cities' Plummeting Crime Rates Mystifying Killings in the District, Pr. George's Have Fallen by Allison Klein Violent crime has plummeted in the Washington area and in major cities across the country, a trend criminologists describe as baffling and unexpected. The District, New York and Los Angeles are on track for fewer killings this year than in any other year in at least four decades. Boston, San Francisco, Minneapolis and other cities are also seeing notable reductions in homicides. "Experts did not see this coming at all," said Andrew Karmen, a criminologist and professor of sociology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. In the District and Prince George's County, homicides are down about 17 percent this year. Criminologists have different theories about why crime is down so much, although many agree that the common belief that crime is connected to the economy is false. Whatever the cause, police across the region are taking credit for the drop. "Everybody wants to beat us up when it goes up, so we'll take credit for it when it goes down," D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said. She said police are able to target specific locations or types of crime and policing is so high-tech that investigators are analyzing crime minute-by-minute and have greater ability to attack crime before it happens. In Prince George's, for example, the department's top commanders get mobile phone updates on crimes and 911 calls every 15 minutes. In New York, when someone is killed, police send a mobile data center to a neighborhood, allowing police on the scene to listen to 911 calls and immediately search databases that list the names of everyone in a certain building who is on parole. In the District, the department creates a weekly "Go-Go report," which details where and when home-grown bands are playing, because go-go concerts often bring together rival gangs, causing violence, Lanier said. There is also a weekly gang report that tells officers which gangs or crews are feuding that week. Armed with that information, police can better predict where crimes might happen and take measures to prevent them. The District is on track to have fewer killings than in any year since 1964, when the population was about 760,000 and Vietnam War protests were just beginning. In the years since, the city has struggled at times with civil unrest, the arrival of crack cocaine and the rise of street gangs. In 1991, the District was known as the murder capital of the United States, recording 479 that year. This year, there have been 79. Last summer, the city was struggling with so much violence in the Trinidad neighborhood that police set up military-style neighborhood roadblocks and stopped people from entering unless they had a "legitimate reason." The checkpoints were so restrictive that they were ultimately ruled unconstitutional [1] by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. This year, there have been several high-profile shootings in the District, including last week's late-afternoon killing of armed suspect Kellen Anthony White [2] by the Capitol Police about a block from the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Also, a security officer, Stephen T. Johns, was killed last month [3] during the lunch hour at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. An alleged white supremacist has been charged. But Lanier said there has been a turnaround in violence this year. She pointed to a better relationship between the department and the community as a factor, saying it has helped get more violent repeat offenders off the streets. She said tips from the community have been flowing faster than ever, due in part to patrol officers knowing their beats and developing connections in the community. Last year, the department paid about $500,000 in reward money for tips that led to arrests and convictions, double the amount in 2007. This year, detectives have closed about 70 percent of homicide cases. "The community is giving us more information than ever," Lanier said. "They're used to seeing the same cop in the neighborhood every day. They feel comfortable. They have a connection to that officer. They know that officer isn't going to burn them." Burning them, she said, would be to take information and not act on it, leaving sources to believe police are corrupt or lazy. She also said she has torn down walls in the department so that homicide detectives talk more often with beat officers, sharing vital information. Violent crime is also down in some of Washington's other large suburbs, including Montgomery and Fairfax counties. Montgomery has recorded six homicides this year, putting it on track to have its lowest total since 1986. In Prince George's, violence had been steadily rising since the 1990s, when the county started absorbing spillover crime from the District. But this year, crime is at a 20-year low, and homicides are down almost 17 percent. Police Chief Roberto L. Hylton said that since he took over the department in September, there has been a more defined mission about how to attack crime. He identified car thefts as one of the county's major problems and a "gateway" crime, meaning if criminals get away with stealing a car, they sometimes become emboldened and begin committing more daring acts. In 2004, about 18,500 cars were stolen in the county, more than in all of Virginia. Since then, the department has focused on arresting car thieves and educating the public about protecting their cars, and the number of car thefts has shrunk by half. "We have a very detailed and comprehensive strategy. We are triaging our community," Hylton said. He said the homicide closure rate is about 70 percent, which has helped get many criminals off the streets. "If you come into Prince George's County and you commit a murder, we're going to track you down and arrest you and lock you up," Hylton said. Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum [4], said the drop in homicides this year is notable, especially considering the weather. "This does come at an important time," he said. "We're midway through summer, and summer is when you see the most significant increase in street violence. Departments have had to be more strategic in terms of gangs and hot spots." Wexler said that crime isn't down everywhere. Baltimore and Dallas are among some cities experiencing a higher number of killings compared with last year. Gary LaFree, a criminology professor at the University of Maryland, said it has taken police decades to figure out how to effectively target crime. "In the '60s, crime was like an act of God, like a tornado or earthquake," LaFree said. "Where policing has changed is that we've gotten the idea this is a problem we created and there are human solutions to it. Obviously, crime is not randomly distributed. It is connected to hot spots in cities and other areas." LaFree and others agree that crime doesn't automatically go up when the economy is poor. Property crime is also trending down in many jurisdictions, including the District, Prince George's and Montgomery. The FBI reported last week that bank robberies across the country fell in the first quarter of the year, with 1,498 reported, compared with 1,604 in the first quarter of 2008. Criminologists point to the Great Depression in the 1930s as a time of relatively low crime compared with the Roaring Twenties, when the country experienced more violence. Lanier said that despite the good news, there's not much celebrating going on among police chiefs across the country. "We're afraid to relax in any way and say crime is down," she said. "We tend to not talk about it much because we know how quick things can turn. What's successful today, tomorrow can turn on a dime." Staff writers Maria Glod, Tom Jackman, Dan Morse and Josh White contributed to this report. What a load of morons .. of course its recession linked ... PEOPLE ARE DRINKING LESS BECAUSE THEY ARE SKINT...! DERRR regards Jules |
Celtic (Keltic)
User ID: 701306 United Kingdom 07/20/2009 08:00 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: Major Cities' Plummeting Crime Rates Mystifying - Leaves Experts Scratching Their Heads In What Is Going On. calm before the storm i bet, just wait until IT really hits the fan. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 549001That's what we're waiting for, THAT'S when things will really begin to change. It is the Thunderbolt that steers the Universe - Heraclitus |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 711980 United States 07/20/2009 08:01 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: Major Cities' Plummeting Crime Rates Mystifying - Leaves Experts Scratching Their Heads In What Is Going On. Seriously you guys can't believe this. Look with your own eyes. What is your town like now? Maybe some of you recall this? Thread: HOLY SHIT!!!! "Low-priority" crimes such as Breaking and Entering will no longer be prosecuted in Detroit.!!! If they are not prosecuted it stands to reason they are not reported. |
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Anonymous Coward User ID: 642285 United States 07/20/2009 08:02 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: Major Cities' Plummeting Crime Rates Mystifying - Leaves Experts Scratching Their Heads In What Is Going On. Lots of blacks and hispanics are seeing their much envied and white counterparts loosing jobs, houses, cars, etc. Poor is poor no matter what color it comes wrapped in - and it's no fun! The realization that the government has done this not only to the disadvantaged minorities but to poor whites, blacks, asians, hispanics, indians, etc., is finally sinking in. It was NOT the Whites who fostered this mess. It was the government and the greedy asshole bankers who've been stealing us all blind for generation after generation. When they got to the point where houses were being sold to people with "adjustable option" mortgages where the payment increased after 25 months to FAR MORE than the buyers annual gross income - and of course they were foreclosed upon months ago when the increase couldn't even be met by a "close" effort, much less in reality... it was time to realize who the real villain's are! People are finally redirecting their wrath and anger to where it is rightfully due. To the government officials who've misused their power to grow rich and have fucked us and our children out of a country and a future. Look out members of Congress and the Senate. I would not want to be in your shoes as the real and final realization hits the lower middle classes and the "new poor" you've so kindly created. |
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Anonymous Coward User ID: 730311 United States 07/20/2009 08:09 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: Major Cities' Plummeting Crime Rates Mystifying - Leaves Experts Scratching Their Heads In What Is Going On. We had threads about homeless people disappearing, maybe whoever is disappearing the homeless people is disappearing some thugs as well. Quoting: mercury2Plus hasn't it been in the news that a lot of illegal aliens are going back to Mexico because of the lack of work in the US? The disappeared are being turned into cardboard |
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FreeFlow
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135 User ID: 726526 United States 07/20/2009 08:14 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: Major Cities' Plummeting Crime Rates Mystifying - Leaves Experts Scratching Their Heads In What Is Going On. friends of mine that are cops, tell me we the sheeple are only hearing 10% of the crime reported. so when tptb cut the police departments of personal because of deficits, the sheeple will feel safe. to all people who hate cops, cops are our first line of defense against the scumbags. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 711980 United States 07/20/2009 08:24 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: Major Cities' Plummeting Crime Rates Mystifying - Leaves Experts Scratching Their Heads In What Is Going On. friends of mine that are cops, tell me we the sheeple are only hearing 10% of the crime reported. so when tptb cut the police departments of personal because of deficits, the sheeple will feel safe. Quoting: 135 726526to all people who hate cops, cops are our first line of defense against the scumbags. I believe the part about the 'only 10% of crime being reported'. I don't believe the part about them being our line of defense. As they are asked to do more and more with less manpower the resentment and corruption will grow. Just basic human (esp. LEO psych profile)nature. |