Pubdate: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 Source: Blade, The (OH) Copyright: 1999 The Blade. Contact: 541 North Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660 Website: http://www.toledoblade.com/ STILL A VIOLENT NATION A new report on crime and poverty, assembled by the respected Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation, makes sobering reading. While recognizing that violence and crime have declined consistently over the last several years, it argues that the booming economy is masking a failure to deal seriously with their root causes. Certainly the proof of how effective get-tough anti-crime policies have been will come not in the good economic times when more people have jobs and spending money, but in the lean times when they have neither. The foundation, which evolved from a commission formed in 1968 to look into the conditions that led to the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, says there is more violence today than 30 years ago. The facts bear that out. From 1969 to 1998, the number of incidents of violent crime in big cities rose from 860 per 100,000 population to 1,218. But is the pessimistic tone of the report justified? The Clinton administration, which obviously wants to claim credit for recent improvements in the crime rate, says not. In particular, the administration disputes the foundation's contention that the war on drugs hasn't been effective. The truth likely is neither as pessimistic as the report implies, nor as positive as the administration would have us think. Clearly the good economic times of the 1990s have had an impact on reducing levels of crime. Jobs are the best crime-prevention tool yet discovered. To that must be added the impact of the decline in the trade in crack cocaine, which is widely recognized as having an impact on the declining crime rate. The bad news is that lawmakers, in response to their constituents' reasonable fears of crime, have gone into hyperdrive. The concentration has been on increasing jail time instead of looking at intervention programs. More jails are being built, but rehabilitation seems to be low on the list of priorities. In other words, the symptoms, not the causes, of crime are being addressed. It's not unreasonable to believe that the failure to do more than lock up more people for longer periods of time will come back to haunt the streets of Toledo and other cities. The future also is clouded by the enduring prevalence of guns, the ongoing disparities between the haves and the have-nots, and the unacceptable levels of poverty in this country even as we enjoy unprecedented economic growth. These all are ingredients for a return to alarming levels of crime when, not if, the economy goes into a downturn. One of the key findings of the report underscores the disparity between the positive spin coming from lawmakers, and the feelings of ordinary Americans. While the White House claims the foundation hasn't looked at the administration's strategy, 41 per cent of Americans are afraid to walk alone at night within a mile of their home. That's up from 31 per cent three decades ago. A country in which almost half its citizens are afraid to stroll in their neighborhoods after dark is one that has not dealt with crime and violence. If the report gets that message across, it will have done all of us a service. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake