Posted on 11/29/2024 5:37:00 AM PST by MtnClimber
While rising crime has numerous impacts on Arizona, one consequence that is not always front of mind is the cost associated with crime.
According to a newly released report from the Common Sense Institute and the Arizona Chamber Foundation, the cost of crime in Arizona reached $20.6 billion in 2022 alone.
“This equals an average cost per Arizonan of $2,796, or for the median household, roughly $7,200 – nearly 10% of annual household income,” reads the report. “Most of these costs (87%) are due to the 167,853 violent crimes committed in 2022. The cost of crime in 2022 was 25% higher than it otherwise would have been if pre-2015 crime trends had continued. CSI estimates that this recent surge accounted for $4.1 billion of the total $20.6 billion cost of crime in 2022.”
The CSI attributes the rise in costs to changing policies and leniency when it comes to arresting those committing crimes and the persecution of those convicted of crimes. The report looks at the “Great Crime Decline” in the U.S. that ended in 2014. In 1994, the nation’s largest crime bill, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, was passed, initiating almost two decades of crime decline in the U.S.
“Policies aimed at rolling back mandatory minimum sentencing, truth-in-sentencing, bail reforms, and a reliance on non-criminal interventions for drug users and sellers have reset our progress on crime,” reads the report. “The public and lawmakers should take caution in the pursuit of policies that are sold as cost-saving measures in the criminal justice system. Rolling back laws aimed to curb the violent crime rates of the past may prove more costly to Arizonans in the end, and jeopardize their health, safety, and well-being.”
According to anecdotal evidence obtained by CSI, there is a reluctance to prosecute drug offenders in Pima County, and in Tucson, officers are required to drop arrestees off at a hospital if they have drugs in their system upon arrest after which they are able to walk away freely.
The other contributor to the increase in crime, according to the CSI, is the influx of illegal crossings and drug trafficking at the Southern border. According to data from the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, noncitizens make up 6.8% of Arizona’s incarcerated population despite only making up 5% of the general population.
Additionally, noncitizens make up 9.9% of those incarcerated for murder, 18.3% for child molestation, 10.6% for sex offenses, 12.3% for rape and 13.2% for trafficking illegal drugs.
“After falling nearly uninterrupted for over two decades, violent crime in the U.S. and Arizona reversed course beginning in 2015, rising 9.9% in the U.S. between 2014 and 2017 alone, according to FBI Uniform Crime Reports,” reads the report. “The increase in Arizona was even more pronounced; Violent crime soared nearly 29% between 2014 and 2017, with the number of homicides and aggravated assaults increasing 36% and 45%, respectively, effectively erasing over a decade of progress in the fight against violent crime.”
And, the crime rate has continued to rise, with murder rates alone increasing 47% since 2014.
“Since 2014, the violent crime rate in Arizona has averaged nearly 18% higher than the national average, and Arizona ranks worse than most states in all categories of violent and property crime,” reads the report, noting that Arizona ranks 14th in the country for violent crime, 12th for robbery and 14th for larceny and theft. And, with rising crime comes rising costs.
“CSI estimates that Arizonans faced $4.1 billion more, or 25% higher costs associated with crime in 2022 than what they would have experienced according to prior trends,” reads the report. “The cost of this excess crime alone reached $1.7 billion.”
The report also notes that there are unknown costs for crimes that go unreported. In 2022, only 41.5% of violent crimes and 31.8% of property crimes were reported to the police. Furthermore, one of the most costly crimes was also one of the most unreported – rape.
In 2022, only about 22% of rapes were reported, with over 24,000 rapes in Arizona going unreported – an associated cost the CSI estimates to be $5,648.
To address the cost of crime, the CSI recommends stricter policies targeting crime.
“Policymakers often discuss at length the additional costs of, for instance, hiring more police officers or incarcerating offenders, but less often consider the broader costs to society due to higher crime rates that can accompany the relaxation of criminal justice policies,” reads the report. “The change in crime trends is not coincident; it is attributable to policy. The public and policymakers alike must not unlearn the lessons of the past and should be cautious of policies that take the previous crime declines for granted.”
Just the price of cultural enrichment.
Looks like the good people in Arizona need to elect even more democrats.
We are getting new sheriff in Maricopa county!
That may change things a little.
Go Jerry!
They likely didn’t vote for most of what they have.
What AZ needs to do is secure its damned elections.
Just doing the crimes that Americans refuse to do.
Right? George W. Bush?
“Additionally, noncitizens make up 9.9% of those incarcerated for murder, 18.3% for child molestation, 10.6% for sex offenses, 12.3% for rape and 13.2% for trafficking illegal drugs.”
And yet they make up less than 7% of the prison population? Are there zero “non-citizens” in prison for robbery, arson and burglary? Are judges universally letting illegals out for more petty crimes so they aren’t subject to deportation?
Lefty take away: see! The newcomers are only resposible for “18.3% for child molestation, 10.6% for sex offenses, 12.3% for rape and 13.2% for trafficking illegal drugs” which means Americans are responsible for the rest of the percentage of those crimes, which is a higher percentage. See!
Good to hear, gallego should be a big help lol
I have read that the return on investment from police is about $2.00 dollars of direct economic benefit for every next dollar spent on police, which means we are underspending on police. Aside from the direct economic benefits of lower crime rates are the intangible benefits of public peace and order.
I don’t want to live in a “police state”, but I would like to (and do) live in a real-life “Mayberry”. I wish more folks could.
What they report is bogus. I’ve seen illegals labeled as white Americans.
Good to hear! You guys finally got rid of that worthless pig, Penzone?
It is like,they have set themselves on fire, and are blaming EVERYTHING ELSE but their own actions for th3 pain and destruction that it is causing.
They need to do something about their districts. That Kenyan biatch sent a herd of his commie RATS into Arizona and they Gerrymandered the whole damn state when I was still living there. They should have been strung up. Feral “judgies” gave him the permission to turn Arizona into Blewguyz, Smurf country.
Some prisons the number of illegals in the prison amount to nearly 70% of the inmates. Oh, and decades ago, the average cost to house them in prisons was approx $145 per day per inmate. I sure would like to have $145 per day to spend on myself! (Not that inmates get the money, but the concept is that the $145 per inmate would be much better spent on fixing this nation than housing illegal criminals- the state is just throwing that money down the drain feeding crim8nals for life)
Why didn’t this report come out before the election?
And they mercilessly mocked candidate Trump in the summer of. 2015 for saying Mexico wasn’t sending us their best people.
The Arizona Demoncrats voted for this crime.
May the children and grandchildren of these Arizona Demonicrats spit on their graves.
Human nature -
The things you reward you get more of.
The things you punish you get less of.
Rewarding criminals (by not prosecuting them and if guilty sending them to prison) will only get you more crime.
Friendly reminder…elections have consequences
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