The Coming Crime Wave
Crime and Recession are Linked
A key element in self-defense is knowing your environment.
Usually we think of that in terms of neighborhoods, looking
out for predator types, gang activity, etc. There is a big
socio-economic event driving up crime second half of 2008. It is
economic destruction produced by the banking and Wall Street
mess. This in turn has created unemployment, reduction in police forces, and early release from prisons. The graph at the right shows that crime
rises and falls with unemployment.
We Live in a War Zone
Scare headline here? Murders in many cities far surpass the number of service personnel killed in action in Iraq.
21st Century War and Peace
| | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|
Iraq War | 961 | 322 |
Afghanistan War | 117 | 155 |
NYC Murders | 484 | 523 |
Chicago Murders | 443 | 509 |
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Police Forces are Reduced in a Bad Economy
Reductions in business revenue and unemployment mean that there is less income from taxes to support police services. This is made worse by government reduction in taxes to stimulate the economy. This gives criminals greater opportunity to do their criminal acts. An immediate example is New York City that cut its police budget and 1,000 officers, that is 3% of the force. Oakland, CA is planning to cut it's force by 140 officers (18%). Other reductions: Toledo, OH - 11%. Polce pay cuts have have happened to prevent force reductions, e.g. Fall River, MA 8% pay cut.
Governments Release Criminals to Save Money
In May '08 the ABA Journal reported that California, Rhode Island, Kentucky, and Mississippi were considering early prisoner release programs to save money. In England and Wales a similar path has been followed.
In Feb. '09 Federal Judges in San Francisco ruled that as 57,000 prisoners must be released from California prisons to release dangerous overcrowding. The Judges said that the move would not threaten public safety. But, the Judges should know that the recidivism rate is greater than 50%. That is half of the criminals will commit more crimes. The Judges may be safe; they are protected by the U.S. Marshals Service who are paid for by us taxpayers, the very people who will be the criminals' victims after they are released. But what about us citizens? Do they care? The State of California will appeal to the ruling.
Act Now to Prevent Becoming a Victim Later
We are the first line in the
war against crime. Between the onset of a "situation" and
arrival of police assistance the "situation" is all yours, and
that is even if you had time to call 911. And
then there is the fact that the police have wide discretion
about what situations they chose to respond to. This is
not to put down the police. US DoJ statistics cite a 90%
solution rate for violent crime, but this does not really matter
because with our Catch 'n' Release justice system the
perps are back on the street after a short stretch of
R'n'R in prison.
Steps to take now:
Whatever self-defense equipment you buy learn how to
use it before you need it. |
