From: ahk@chinet.com

Stephen Sprunk  wrote:
>On 01-Aug-14 22:35, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>>On Friday, August 1, 2014 4:59:40 PM UTC-4, Stephen Sprunk wrote:

>>>Nationally, Pennsylvania is ranked low in rape, burglary and
>>>larceny but middle in murder and aggravated assault and high in
>>>robbery.

>>...
>>They also ignore that New York City drastically reduced its murder
>>count from the dark days of the 1970s and 1980s.  If NYC could do it,
>>so could Phila if they bothered to pay attention to what NYC and
>>other places did.

>They're also ignoring the fact that murder rates are down nationwide
>since peaking in the late 1980s/early 1990s; it was the banning of
>leaded gasoline and the end of the crack wars that did it, not cops.

>More interesting is the variation in current rates, but adjust for
>poverty rates and there actually isn't all that much variation.

>The main factor today is the number of cops per capita.  For instance,
>among large cities, NYC has the most cops per capita and the lowest
>murder rate, while Dallas has the fewest cops (1/2x NYC) and highest
>murder rate (2x NYC).  And the number of cops is determined by
>tax/economic policies, so again it boils down to money.

Do New York cops walk beats, or are they pulled away for special events
and traffic, and all too often just acting like security guards and
spooks? Cop walking a beat, if he's useful, may have some effect on
crime, but the rest of it is window dressing.

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