Friday, January 4, 2008
Jails and Prisons - Is Crime Increasing
The statistics report that crime is increasing, but depending on whom you ask, crime rates are the same as they have always been. There are many variables that must be considered when looking at criminal justice statistics and many questions that must be asked. Who is reporting the crimes? What crimes are being reported? What do certain groups have to gain or loose by reporting higher crime rates?
Police are hired to prevent and contain crime, and yet if they fail to do so (i.e. by showing that crime is increasing), then they have grounds to ask for expansion. After all, the police depend on crime for job security. New laws restricting certain behaviors can cause an increase in crime rates. More police to catch more criminals can also cause an increase in crime rates. The war on drugs is a good example of criminal justice policy that creates the illusion of rising drug trafficking. As Jesilow and Pepinski point out, "how much the amount of illicit drug traffic has increased is determined by how much officials find; and, how much they find depends on how hard they look". Mathew B. Robinson, in his book Justice Blind? Ideals and Realities of American Criminal Justice, says, "Given the current limits of the criminal justice system, it is difficult to catch, convict, and punish criminal offenders". Does this mean that we should increase police, prosecutors, and prisons? We could increase the capacity of the criminal justice system, but it would not be the solution to crime that the country so desperately needs and often demands from the government.
System capacity is related to the perception of rising crime rates. The larger the criminal justice system becomes, the more criminals they can process. Because police are responsible for reporting the crimes, there have been allegations that they are bias in their reports. Pepinsky and Jesilow believe that there is little doubt whether the criminal justice system creatively adjusts the numbers to reflect rising or falling crime rates depending on their financial needs. "It is questionable whether Americans need more police protection now than ever; it is unquestionable that criminologists have conspired to make it appear that way". There may not be more crime at all. There is no way of knowing for sure. "Crime statistics, then, tell us how citizens and officials are responding to crime, but not how big the crime problem itself is". One look at the numbers of inmates admitted to prison and released from prison in the same year gives a clear picture of our system's capacity to handle criminals.
2001 Admissions / Releases
U.S. Total 639,569/630,207
Federal 45,140/38,370
State 594,429/591,837
If the criminal justice system were not functioning at maximum system capacity, the admissions and releases would not resemble each other so closely. These figures often ignite passionate fires within people for stricter sentences and mandatory minimum sentences, but that would be throwing more gasoline on an already uncontrollable fire.
Police are hired to prevent and contain crime, and yet if they fail to do so (i.e. by showing that crime is increasing), then they have grounds to ask for expansion. After all, the police depend on crime for job security. New laws restricting certain behaviors can cause an increase in crime rates. More police to catch more criminals can also cause an increase in crime rates. The war on drugs is a good example of criminal justice policy that creates the illusion of rising drug trafficking. As Jesilow and Pepinski point out, "how much the amount of illicit drug traffic has increased is determined by how much officials find; and, how much they find depends on how hard they look". Mathew B. Robinson, in his book Justice Blind? Ideals and Realities of American Criminal Justice, says, "Given the current limits of the criminal justice system, it is difficult to catch, convict, and punish criminal offenders". Does this mean that we should increase police, prosecutors, and prisons? We could increase the capacity of the criminal justice system, but it would not be the solution to crime that the country so desperately needs and often demands from the government.
System capacity is related to the perception of rising crime rates. The larger the criminal justice system becomes, the more criminals they can process. Because police are responsible for reporting the crimes, there have been allegations that they are bias in their reports. Pepinsky and Jesilow believe that there is little doubt whether the criminal justice system creatively adjusts the numbers to reflect rising or falling crime rates depending on their financial needs. "It is questionable whether Americans need more police protection now than ever; it is unquestionable that criminologists have conspired to make it appear that way". There may not be more crime at all. There is no way of knowing for sure. "Crime statistics, then, tell us how citizens and officials are responding to crime, but not how big the crime problem itself is". One look at the numbers of inmates admitted to prison and released from prison in the same year gives a clear picture of our system's capacity to handle criminals.
2001 Admissions / Releases
U.S. Total 639,569/630,207
Federal 45,140/38,370
State 594,429/591,837
If the criminal justice system were not functioning at maximum system capacity, the admissions and releases would not resemble each other so closely. These figures often ignite passionate fires within people for stricter sentences and mandatory minimum sentences, but that would be throwing more gasoline on an already uncontrollable fire.
Labels: incarceration
