High Cost of Crime

[bigdog 376]

High Cost of Crime

When times get hard and talk turns to spending and budgets, there is one area that gets short shrift: the cost of crime and our enormous criminal justice system. For instance, how much do you think a single murder costs society? According to researchers at Iowa State University, it is a whopping $17.25 million.

Those researchers analyzed 2003 data from cases in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas and calculated the figure based on "victim costs, criminal justice system costs, lost productivity estimates for both the victim and the criminal, and estimates on the public's resulting willingness to pay to prevent future violence." That willingness to prevent future violence includes collateral costs like expenditures for security measures, insurance and government welfare programs. It's hard to believe that they could calculate the collateral costs with any real degree of accuracy, but I understand the concept.

(They also calculated that each rape costs $448,532, each robbery $335,733, each aggravated assault $145,379 and each burglary $41,288.)

By their estimates, more than 18,000 homicides that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded in 2007 alone will cost us roughly $300 billion. That's about as much as we've spent over nine years fighting the war in Afghanistan. That's more than the 2010 federal budget for the Departments of Education, Justice, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Labor and Homeland Security combined. Does anyone else see a problem here?

Although the annual murder rate in the U.S. has fallen to historic lows, it is still at least twice as high as that of any of the other rich countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. In fact, it's even higher than in countries like Rwanda, Angola and Mozambique. And there are troubling signs this year as big cities around the country — New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit — are seeing sharp rises in murder rates.

Our approach to this crime problem for more than two decades has been the mass incarceration of millions of Americans and the industrializing of our criminal justice system. Over the last 25 years, the prison population has quadrupled. This is a race to the bottom and a waste of human capital. A prosperous country cannot remain so by following this path.

Many crimes could have been prevented if the offenders had had the benefit of a competent educational system and a more expansive, better-financed social service system. Sure, some criminals are just bad people, but more are people who took a wrong turn, got lost and ended up on the wrong path. Those we can save.

We have a choice to make: pay a little now or a lot later. Seems like a clear choice to me. But I'm not in Washington where they view clarity as an affliction of the weak.

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In these trying economic times, we need to look at our criminal justice system to figure out how we can recover the monies that criminals have stolen from society. With levels of recidivism rising each year, I think we need to discuss more radical ideas in combating crime, more specifically as it relates to economic loss and liability.

50% of all your insurance premiums go to pay fraud. It is easier to pay than fight per the companies etc. We all pay on both sides our cost of service and cost of insurance.

[slim 1,514]

FBI recorded about 10,000 homicides. Who is right?

Don't forget to count suicides and accidental gun deaths in there too!

[웃 910]

FBI recorded about 10,000 homicides. Who is right?

If we allow everyone to carry concealed weapons without permits our homicide rate would be less than 1 per 100,000. Why aren't we doing it?

And we'd trim $380 billion off the deficit EACH YEAR over the next decade if we let the Bush Tax Cuts expire. Why aren't we doing it?

[Ste 6]

And we'd trim $380 billion off the deficit EACH YEAR over the next decade if we let the Bush Tax Cuts expire. Why aren't we doing it?

Corporate lobbying.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

And we'dMIGHT trim $380 billion off the deficit EACH YEAR over the next decade if we let the Bush Tax Cuts expire. Why aren't we doing it?

fixed.

[The_Dude 1,142]

You must be joking.

No I'm not.

Criminals aren't exactly "go getters" so when you say "pay restitution" are you implying they'd go get real jobs, work extra hard, and pay back the government that locked them up in the first place? Are you out of your mind?

Then why would we want them in our country? They aren't motivated to better themselves, only drag the rest of society down and saddle them with a trillion dollar debt ever year. That doesn't sound very American to me.

"If they refuse to pay, ship them off to a penal colony." HA! You're screwing with us now, aren't you? You have to be. You can't be this silly!

Again, i'm not kidding. Criminals cost the rest of society, yet contribute nothing. Lets cut the dead weight, they aren't real Americans anyways. If they cared about the U.S., they would be aware of the financial burden they are causing and the eventual rise in taxes.

But, considering you don't support the death penalty I can't see how you'd support sending someone to a penal colony. You've exemplified the entire problem in the OP by your post. You want the system fixed but you're the one that broke it. You'd rather pay someone to make the hard decisions for you and "make the bad guys listen" instead of doing it yourself. The reason crime is such a big cost is because we don't hold criminals accountable for their actions. We send them away for a while and then spend just as long trying to "help" them get their stuff back together when most of them didn't have their stuff together in the first place.

Maybe you didn't actually read what I posted. Take a few moments and read Slim. I am against the death penalty because it is not a deterrent, and it costs over $17 million per murder case. I'm glad you feel no guilt in spending other peoples money to prosecute murderers. I don't. I'm trying to find ways to protect our citizens from the violence, and inherent cost from these anti-American criminals.

Let me guess, your penal colony would be run by the government as well?

It seems you missed the entire point, again. I don't want the government to run it, that would cost even more money and extend our national debt even further. I would think the most responsible idea would be some sort of an island, like Lord of the Flies.

[slim 1,514]

I'm trying to find ways to protect our citizens from the violence

If the government subsidized firearms and ammo we could not only create jobs and balance the budget but we'd have a safer society as well.

the most responsible idea would be some sort of an island, like Lord of the Flies.

You've obviously given this a lot of thought.

[The_Dude 1,142]

If the government subsidized firearms and ammo we could not only create jobs and balance the budget but we'd have a safer society as well

Ideas like this, are the reason why you'll never win a public office.

You've obviously given this a lot of thought.

Nope.

[Nina~ 431]

It seems you missed the entire point, again. I don't want the government to run it, that would cost even more money and extend our national debt even further. I would think the most responsible idea would be some sort of an island, like Lord of the Flies.

You even seen that 80's movie called Escape from New York?

[slim 1,514]

Ideas like this, are the reason why you'll never win a public office.

I'd never win a public office because of my poor performance in school, misconduct in the military, criminal record, and blue collar history.

You even seen that 80's movie called Escape from New York?

New York would make an excellent penal colony!

[The_Dude 1,142]

I'd never win a public office because of my poor performance in school, misconduct in the military, criminal record, and blue collar history.

Poor grades and misconduct in the military didn't stop G.W. Bush, and look at James Traficant from Ohio, or Marion Barry. Both have blue collar history and a criminal record, yet both managed to run again. Barry won re-election and we shall see about Traficant after the next election cycle.

[slim 1,514]

Poor grades and misconduct in the military didn't stop G.W. Bush, and look at James Traficant from Ohio, or Marion Barry. Both have blue collar history and a criminal record, yet both managed to run again. Barry won re-election and we shall see about Traficant after the next election cycle.

Rich sponsors. I'm missing that too.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Rich sponsors. I'm missing that too.

Marion Barry didn't have those, and neither does James Traficant. Just go out and meet some people, and ask them for money for your campaign.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Poor grades and misconduct in the military didn't stop G.W. Bush, and look at James Traficant from Ohio, or Marion Barry. Both have blue collar history and a criminal record, yet both managed to run again. Barry won re-election and we shall see about Traficant after the next election cycle.

How much money and clout does the Bush family have? I believe they used to be and maybe still are the largest donor to Yale University. And Marion Barry? LOL....I'm not even going to go there....that one is too easy.

[The_Dude 1,142]

How much money and clout does the Bush family have? I believe they used to be and maybe still are the largest donor to Yale University. And Marion Barry? LOL....I'm not even going to go there....that one is too easy.

If it's so easy, then I'll add an element of difficulty to make it more interesting for you. Explain why Marion Barry, or James Traficant are are not analogous, without using racism to justify your point.