Cellphone Thefts Grow, but the Industry Looks the Other Way
A NYT article, with some surprising figures cited, having worked in an urban area plagued over ten years ago with street robberies for cellphones it tells a familiar story:
Quote:
In San Francisco last year, nearly half of all robberies involved a cellphone, up from 36 percent the year before; in Washington, cellphones were taken in 42 percent of robberies, a record. In New York, theft of iPhones and iPads last year accounted for 14 percent of all crimes.
Some compare the epidemic of phone theft to car theft, which was a rampant problem more than a decade ago until auto manufacturers improved antitheft technology.
Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/02/te...pagewanted=all
Our experience with the manufacturers action to improve security may not end the problem, rather shift it and sometimes with a higher level of violence to the victim - "home invasions" for the keys for performance cars for example.
Everything you know about crime is wrong
The actual title of this UK crime story is: 'How Jill Dando's death convinced me everything you know about crime is wrong': NICK ROSS tells the shocking truth about the murder of his friend and the real cause of crime' and the author Nick Ross is a well known, respected TV presenter:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...use-crime.html
Yes it is about the UK which is different from the USA, but contributes to the debate here.
Crime falls 15% in England and Wales
That is the BBC's headline, in what is becoming a controversial issue, although with little public engagement:
Quote:
Overall crime in England and Wales fell by 15% in 2013, official figures show.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales reported (calculated after 36k interviews) 7.5 million crimes against households and adults in that year, the lowest level since it began in 1981.
Separate police figures showed a 2% fall in crime for 2013, with increases in areas such as fraud (25%) as well as a 17% rise in reported sex offences following the Jimmy Savile scandal.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27138921
This is an excellent review article:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...-violence.html
It ends with a former senior officer's comment:
Quote:
To me, in a professional sense, it is dispiriting. The fact that we don’t really know why crime is now going down tells me that in 30 years’ policing, my actions didn’t make quite as much difference as I had hoped. On the other hand, I’m pleased – my children are going to grow up in a society where there is less crime.
For those who wish to delve deeper on the stats this is good too. It ends with:
Quote:
Our data on different crime types is not what it's cracked up to be and most of the current explanations for observed crime trends are variously unevidenced and unconvincing.
Link:http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/re...olence-decline
The End of Gangs: lessons from LA
An optimistic review article, which opens with:
Quote:
Los Angeles gave America the modern street gang. Groups like the Crips and MS-13 have spread from coast to coast, and even abroad. But on Southern California’s streets they have been vanishing. Has L.A. figured out how to stop the epidemic it set loose on the world?
Link:http://www.psmag.com/navigation/poli...c-crime-95498/
I do wonder if the gangs have also changed their ways, less overt activity, but overall good news.
Why We Need Broken Windows Policing
There is a long history to the theory of 'Broken Windows', let alone their implementation by policing, primarily in New York city by NYPD and the originator, George Keeling and NYPD's Commissioner, Bill Bratton have an article in City Journal - lots of stats are cited:http://www.city-journal.org/2015/25_...-policing.html
Taster passage:
Quote:
The NYPD’s critics object, in particular, to the department’s long-standing practice of maintaining order in public spaces. This practice, widely referred to as Broken Windows or quality-of-life or order-maintenance policing, asserts that, in communities contending with high levels of disruption, maintaining order not only improves the quality of life for residents; it also reduces opportunities for more serious crime.
What Caused The Crime Decline?
A new paper from the Brennan Center for Justice (USA), eighty pages minus tables etc and not opened yet here:https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/...me_Decline.pdf
From the foreword:
Quote:
This report addresses a critical question: What caused the American crime decline? Was it incarceration? Was it policing? Or was it something else? This groundbreaking empirical analysis from the Brennan Center shows that, on examination, the easy answers do not explain incarceration’s effect on crime.
This report presents a rigorous and sophisticated empirical analysis performed on the most recent, comprehensive dataset to date.The authors conclude that incarceration had relatively little to do with the crime decline. They find that the dramatic increases in incarceration have had a limited, diminishing effect on crime. And they have quantified those minimal benefits. At today’s high incarceration rates, continuing to incarcerate more people has almost no effect on reducing crime.
Chicago is out of control?
Thanks to a "lurker" I found these charts on the mismatch between public perceptions and recorded crime:https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cri...erception-gap/
This then prompted another "lurker" to respond:
Quote:
Crime rates continue to drop. The exceptions are cities such as Chicago and Baltimore where crime is increasing and spreading. Chicago is out of control.
Another responded:
Quote:
Today, in America… That perception and belief is driven primarily by what is “right outside one‘s front door” as well as conveyed to them by what others say… Most especially media and politicians. Yes, UCR Part I statistics are definitely showing reduction… In all categories… Some exception to homicide and violent crime depending on the neighborhood, City, culture, month, quarter or year. But what damn difference do statistics make when a person‘s perception drives their belief.