If you think wealth inequality and poverty doesnt impact you directly, you better think again!!! These shared social-problems impacts each and every American citizen. What may be very well destroying a fellow citizens home today, may darken your doorstep tomorrow. In fact, statistics strongly provides evidence that it will. Maybe not precisely tomorrow or the day after, but its certainly coming your way. You may or may not be aware of this, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, which includes pre-trial detainees and sentenced prisoners. The US homicide rate, which has declined substantially since 1992, is still among the highest in the industrialized world. Government statistics for 36 States and the District of Columbia show that although violent offenders receive an average sentence of seven years and eleven months imprisonment, they actually serve on average of only two years and eleven months in prison, or only 37 percent of their imposed sentences. The statistics also show that, typically, 51 percent of violent criminals are discharged from prison in two years or less, and 76 percent are back on the streets in four years or less. We need to revise our current parole and probation procedures. Criminals who know how to work the system can be set free on bond, on their own recognizance, for re-habilitation, or for supervision. Three out of four people serving a criminal sentence are currently on probation or parole. In other words, they are out on the streets ready to commit another crime! Many states are enacting truth in sentencing laws that require violent criminals to serve at least 85 percent of their prison sentence before becoming eligible for parole or other early release possibilities. Other states and the federal government are considering three strikes and youre out. These laws mandate that those convicted of three violent crimes be put in jail for life. Now according to most experts in the Criminology field of study, since the early 1990s, crime has declined in the United States, and current crime rates are approximately the same as those of the 1960s. Trust me, this is a result of funny math that doesn’t quite add up when you bring all the data together. Meanwhile, the likelihood of falling victim to crime relates to both demographic and geographic characteristics. Overall, men, minorities, the young, and those in urban areas are more likely to be crime victims. The likelihood of perpetrating crime also relates to similar demographic findings. The fact of the matter is, incarceration incapacitates violent criminals and keeps them off the streets, but it also deters would-be criminals. Criminologists have shown that an increase in arrest rates reduces the crime rate, and they have also demonstrated that an increase in sentence length also decreases crime rates. Catching more criminals, convicting more criminals, and keeping more criminals behind bars will reduce the crime rate. Each State in the Union has a set of statutes enforceable within its own borders. A State has no jurisdiction outside of its borders, even though still in the United States. It must request extradition from the State in which the suspect has fled. Thus far in 2014, there have been 186,873 felony suspects outside specific States jurisdiction against whom no extradition has been sought. Philadelphia has about 20,000 of these since it is near a border with four other States. The cost of extradition is estimated to cost a few hundred dollars per case. Many politicians seem to think that crime can be fought through gun control rather than criminal control. I support this in certain jurisdictions! Never the less, no matter where you come down on the issue of gun control, consider the following statistics. Only 1 percent of all guns purchased in America are ever used in the commission of a crime. And of those 1 percent, 5 out of 6 were obtained illegally. At its best, any gun control bill is only going to affect a very small portion of the criminal element.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 15:50:30 +0000
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