Pubdate: Sun, 22 Feb 2009
Source: Fayetteville Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2009 Fayetteville Observer
Contact:  http://www.fayobserver.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/150

THE ROAD TO SAFETY: WAR ON CRIME NEEDS INNOVATIVE STRATEGY

The American approach to fighting crime is reminiscent of the 
ages-old treatment for leprosy -- banish lepers to colonies and let 
them rot away, out of society's sight and mind.

We do that with criminals, jailing people for all manner of offenses, 
violent or not. We're good at it. We have a higher percentage of our 
population in jails and prisons than any other country in the world. 
By a large margin.

One in every 100 adult Americans is behind bars. Since 1978, our 
incarceration rate has increased 700 percent We should see by now 
that this treatment is as effective as leper colonies were in ending 
leprosy. Or, to use another analogy, as effective as warehousing was 
in treating mental illness. Here in Fayetteville, as in many other 
parts of the state and country, the crime rate is rising anyway, 
despite intense efforts of well-trained police out there, doing their 
best. Robberies, for example, were up more than 30 percent last year. 
Aggravated assaults up more than 20 percent.

As this region's crime rate rises dramatically, it's almost certain 
that loud and compelling calls for locking more people up will be 
among the first put on the table. But faced with 30 years of evidence 
that tells us that strategy won't work, it's time for this community 
to examine some alternatives.

More cops on the street?

One thing the city will certainly look at is hiring more cops and 
sending them out on patrol, because police presence is a deterrent to 
crime. But that is only a small part of what Fayetteville and 
surrounding communities need to do.

Economist Steven Levitt, co-author of the bestselling book 
"Freakonomics," calculates that every dollar spent on police is 20 
percent more effective than a dollar spent on prisons. That's one for 
state policymakers to look into, since the collision of prison 
overcrowding with budget shortfalls is a significant part of the 
state's fiscal crisis.

But growing the Police Department -- along with expanding "community 
policing" and encouraging neighborhood watch organizations -- will 
only go so far, and the fix will be temporary. That's because we're 
still treating symptoms, and not root causes. It won't cure crime any 
more than "iron lungs" and braces cured polio. It took a vaccine to do that.

Poverty and drugs

With crime, part of the vaccine is addressing poverty. Many people 
turn to crime when they have no other way to make a living. If you're 
poor and uneducated, what other way is there to earn a five-figure or 
six-figure income, other than, say, dealing drugs or fencing stolen 
property? One of the keys to eradicating poverty is education. We 
must redouble our efforts to keep our children in school. Dropouts 
are far more likely to end up with criminal records. And we must also 
accelerate efforts in early-childhood education, which is a proven 
way to ignite a lifelong commitment to learning.

Another part is dealing with addictions, to drugs and alcohol. As any 
jailer will affirm, fully 80 percent to 90 percent of the people in 
their custody got there by a route that included drugs, alcohol or 
both. Further attempts at prohibition clearly won't work -- despite 
the billions of dollars we've spent on the war on drugs, we are still 
awash in them. The law of supply and demand cannot be repealed, or 
even much modified. We need, instead, to create a far more effective 
system of intervention and treatment, so addiction is recognized 
early and leads quickly to treatment.

Home-grown innovation is possible

It's time for Fayetteville to take a farther-reaching, more 
innovative approach to crime reduction. Yes, we probably need more 
cops on the street, but that won't make us that much safer. We need 
to bring together this city's best and brightest, including our 
academic institutions -- the Institute for Community Justice at 
Fayetteville State University is tailor-made to help lead an initiative.

We can win this war on crime, but only if we adopt new strategies and 
tactics. Otherwise, we're probably doomed to an endless cycle of failures.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom