Crime Trends

This USA Today article provides some insight into the shifts of violent crime that have been reported in the past several years. I sometimes think there is so much emphasis on the reporting part and not enough evaluation of what drives the numbers reported.

Previously I’ve mentioned a group of which I belong: Fight Crime Invest in Kids. The premise is to invest in early childhood development and work on those issues of poverty that put many kids at an early disadvantage to help drive down future risks of criminal behavior.

It would appear much of what drives the attention to violent crime is crisis management: letting things go or denying the existence of an issue until something blows up and then we throw untold resources taken away from other valued programs to react until things die down a bit and to allow everyone to forget the issue until it starts encroaching on their lives again or surfaces in a media focus article.

About Gary Smith

Chief Smith has served over 31 years in the criminal justice field. He is currently a consultant assisting public and private organizations better establish community goals and ethical conduct with the members of their organizations. Chief Smith serves as a facilitator, lecturer, professor and other capacities both inside and outside the criminal justice field.
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