Posted on 03/02/2009 4:32:03 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
As if we needed any reminder that times in America have changed, there is further evidence that the nearly decade-long rally of prosperity and reduced crime has ended.
We are officially in a recession, a panel of experts told us last week, after months of speculation and hundreds of thousands of layoffs. At the same time, many big cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Boston and Pittsburgh are reporting an increase in homicides this year, potentially signaling an end to the slide in violent crime.
In Chicago as of last week, police had recorded 612 murders so far in 2001 compared to 584 in the same period last year. And in New York City in a recent four-week period, shootings were up 36.7 percent compared with the same period a year ago and murders were up 25 percent although crime is still down about 13 percent for the year.
Even urban undesirables such as squeegee cleaners, panhandlers and illegal street vendors are appearing in greater numbers in New York these days, after dwindling during police crackdowns in recent years.
With developments like these, it would be reasonable for Americans to grow concerned that the recession is bringing a return to the urban grime and violence more common in the '70s and '80s.
But criminologists disagree about the connection between a sour economy and spikes in crime and whether aggressive policing strategies introduced in the last decade can prevent a sustained rise in crime.
"There's no iron law linking [the economy and crime]," said UCLA criminal justice professor Eric Monkkonen. "This recession could see a crime wave or could not see a crime wave. It could promote crime, but it could be 15 years from now."
Will Desperate People Turn to Crime?
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Again ????
LOL
At which point did they become safe ?
Yes, it’s already started.
Oh, this guy nails it...
Waddya mean “again”?
YES.
Even urban undesirables such as squeegee cleaners, panhandlers and illegal street vendors are appearing in greater numbers in New York these days, after dwindling during police crackdowns in recent years.
thanks to bloomberg. well at least we’re cracking down on salt and plastic bags.
Are they gonna cut off the Katrina gravy train?
WTC, I believe you had some excellent commentary on a similar thread a few weeks back.
what Geraldine Sealey means...is this crime stuff going to affect her cocktail parties?
On a positive note, Detroit’s homicide rate dropped 14 percent last year. That prompted mayoral candidate Stanley Christmas to tell the Detroit News recently, “I don’t mean to be sarcastic, but there just isn’t anyone left to kill.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-detroit-housingjan29,0,5435392.story
Yes, and because lawlessness will increase throughout the land, people’s love/empathy will grow cold. And that, is a vicious cycle.
No, the economy has almost nothing to do with crime. During the Great Depression, the country did not see massive crime like the inner-cities do today, because they had a moral foundation based on Biblical teachings. Poverty doesn’t cause crime; crime causes poverty.
There was quite a large spike in violent crime and robbery during the 1930s. J. Edgar and WWII put a stop to much of that.
Seems that the big, liberal cities never stopped being dangerous. I realize that Chicago is huge, but 584 murders is pretty enormous as well.
Let Them Eat Shrimp!
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