From: ahk@chinet.com

Stephen Sprunk  wrote:
>On 02-Aug-14 12:45, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>>Stephen Sprunk  wrote:

>>>The main factor [in crime rates] 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.

>Cops walking/driving a beat increases the _perception_ that criminals
>will be caught, changing the subconscious risk/reward analysis.

Not what I'm getting at. Cops walking a beat can establish rapport with
people who live and work there; driving a beat, cops are aloof. When you
establish rapport, there's a greater likelihood of witnesses coming
forward and people seeing cops as a solution instead of a problem. As
far as criminal behavior, they get better at hiding, I suppose.

>Just as important, though, are the detectives who investigate crimes
>and _actually_ catch the offenders.

Investigation is about punishment, not prevention. The vast majority of
offenders, in the heat of the moment committing a violent crime, aren't
considering the consequence of punishment for themselves.

>I don't know how it is in NYC, but in Dallas, if you report a crime,
>they'll try to discourage you from filing a report (or even refuse to
>accept it), and if you do manage to get one filed, they'll tell you that
>they're so overworked that nobody will do anything about it.  I can't
>believe that such a scenario has no impact on crime rates.

Snarf. Do they also move the dead body across jurisdictional boundaries
to get the crime rate lower?

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