# Does Poverty Lead (Directly) to Crime?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-poverty-lead-directly-to-crime/698021>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 9, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-poverty-lead-directly-to-crime/698021 "2014-09-09T21:33:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-poverty-lead-directly-to-crime/698021/21 "2014-09-10T23:25:50Z")

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> [@robert\_columbia](#):
>
> Good point. As I understand it, a lot of drug possession busts happen incidentally - and \*\*poor people are more likely to have trouble with attracting police attention. \*\*Can’t afford to renew the registration on your car? Congrats, you get busted for out-of-date license plates, and the cop seizes your weed too. Roommate on probation for shoplifting something last fall? Cops come in for a routine check and see your cocaine on the kitchen counter. Busted! Middle class people can afford to keep their contraband hidden away where a cop isn’t likely to be.

Emphasis mine. Examples of this include [New York’s Stop, Question, and Frisk policy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop-and-frisk_in_New_York_City):

\*The Stop-Question-and-Frisk program in New York City is a practice of the New York City Police Department by which police officers stop and question hundreds of thousands of pedestrians annually, and frisk them for weapons and other contraband…

…The number of stops increased dramatically in 2008 to over half a million, 88% of which did not result in any fine or conviction, peaking in 2011 to 685,724 stops, again with 88% resulting in no conviction.\*

And the [Broken Windows theory](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory):

_[NYC] Bratton had the police more strictly enforce the law against subway fare evasion, public drinking, public urination, graffiti vandals, and the “squeegee men” (who had been wiping windshields of stopped cars and aggressively demanding payment). Initially, Bratton received criticism for his work for going after these “petty” crimes. The general complaint about this policy was “Why care about panhandlers, hookers, or graffiti artists when there are more serious crimes to be dealt with in the city?”_

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**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-poverty-lead-directly-to-crime/698021/22 "2014-09-11T00:17:47Z")

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If poverty leads directly to crime, then all of the poor would be committing crime.

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