From: stephen@sprunk.org

On 02-Aug-14 16:56, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> 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;

Right, NYC cops "establish a rapport" with people by stopping and
frisking them even though there is no reason to suspect them of being
criminals other than having the "wrong" skin color.

> When you establish rapport, there's a greater likelihood of witnesses
> coming forward and people seeing cops as a solution instead of a
> problem.

That went out the window with the War on Drugs.  Even for most people
who don't use drugs, the cops are seen as the enemy because the cops see
the _people_ as the enemy.

>> 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.

Crimes of passion aren't logical, I'll agree, but very little crime
falls into that category.

And once someone gets away with one crime because there aren't enough
cops to catch or even look for them, what do you think happens?  They
commit more crimes.  OTOH, if you lock up criminals, that seriously
reduces their ability to commit more crimes--and even when they're
released, it makes it easier to convict them the next time and put them
away for even longer.

>> 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?

No, some things can't be hidden.  But that doesn't mean they have the
resources to find out whodunnit--and that person remains free to do it
again and again.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk         "God does not play dice."  --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723         "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS        dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

--- SoupGate/W32 v1.03
 * Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- UseNet FTN Gateway (1:2320/1)