I was chatting with a friend in Atlanta who made the comment that homicide wss down a large percentage over the past 10 years, and she credited it to the increased number of cops.
I think that natoinwide homicides are down, also.
I don’t personally think that the result is the increase in number of cops (although I didn’t argue the point), but I still don’t have an alternative reason of my own.
It’s hard to determine, not knowing what comprises those stats.
It could be that the lowered numbers are the result of better precautions by people in high risk jobs (convenience store clerks, cabbies, etc), but that’s just a guess.
I think it has to do with more prisons. It was apparently quite a growth industry in the 90’s. I think we’ll just see a new increase in crimes in a few years, when those people get out though.
I imagine the economy might have something to do with it, too. Being able to support yourself can make you a little less angry and might make you feel like you have something to lose.
God forbid that it was because people were actually better adjusted and they didn’t want to kill each other.
Might be related to more firearms in the hands of the American people. More guns makes for a more polite society, and also provides a means of defense against homicidal goblins.
Well, I won’t get started on this one; it being not a part of this thread…but it is worth noting that the state people usually use as pro-gun/ pro-death penalty evidence is Texas…which just happens to have a huge prison system…
So let’s think about it this way:
more people in jail = less criminals not in jail
Guns/death penalty/whatever don’t matter, when everyone’s in jail.
I believe crime rates have nothing to do with Gun control, or xtra cops, or prisons, or 3 strikes. It is an inverse ratio with how well the economy is doing. Economy is doing well, lots of jobs and $$, no reason for crime. Note that rape has not gone down as much, as that is non-economic.
One reason that I’ve often heard is because the number of males in the young adult age range has declined. According to the Statistical Abstract of the United States the number of males aged 16 to 25 is about 15% less than the number of males 26 to 35. Since young males commit the majority of homicides there may be some validity to the hypothesis.
That is among the most ludicrous statements I have ever heard, and I wonder if you could have a cite that provides even anectdotal evidence of this?
Yer pal,
Satan
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Just checking in to say that I think it has to do with the economy. More people with something, no matter how small, to risk means, IMHO, that they are less likely to resort to killing someone. Why, I probably haven’t killed more than half a dozen people since this last boom kicked in.
And Gadarene, I also found myself missing the whole gang.
“Here’s what gonna happen. I’m taking Mary home right now, and then I’m gonna find Lewis. And when I find him, I’m gonna kill him. I am a very clever detective, and I will do it in such a way that I will not be caught. He will simply disappear, and like all good sphincters, he will not be missed.” - Frank Pembleton, ‘The Wedding,’ H:LotS
