Crime is defined as an act which may result in bodily harm or injury to another person or an illegal activity punishable by law. The rate of crime in the developed world has been on the decline since the seventies contrary to public opinion. This essay seeks to support the notion that crime rate is the best measure of understanding and treating crime.
Despite a few occasional variations, crime has declined for decades in the United States in general. For example, between the year 1993 and 2010, the violent crime victimization rate reduced from 49.9 per 1000 persons who were of age 12 or older in the year 1993 to just 14.9 per 1,000 in 2010 which was a 70% decline (NCVR, 2013). In addition to this, some crimes are slowly dying out for instance bank robberies and car theft. This decline in crime rate is a good measure for understanding and treating crime as it reveals that the streets are getting safer and people feel less threatened by criminal activities. Taking into account the crime rate presents a way of handling/treating crime which is that of prevention and not punishment (Lynch & Addington, 2006). According to the newspaper article, The Economist g overnments should put more focus on crime prevention rather than punishment. It is true that hard punishments such as mandatory incarceration contribute to a decline in the rate of crime but this method is counterproductive since a considerable number of inmates today are persons over the age of fifty who are past their criminal years (The Economist, 2013).
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This fact, therefore, brings out the need for treating crime differently. In New Zealand for instance, the government has put in place a new approach to reduce victimization by focusing more on the causes of crime after studying the prevailing crime rates (Adams, 2015). The targeted objectives of a 13% overall reduction in crime rates were realized thereby greatly reducing pressure on justice systems (Adams, 2015). Lastly, sharpening policing can help prevent crime by using civilians in community policing thus freeing up trained policemen to deal with complex crimes.
Conclusion
Crime is a serious issue which can shake the foundation of a society or a country to its very knees. The use of crime rate and related statistics is the best measure of understanding and treating crime as taking into account the past information results to better judgment and knowing how to treat the issue of crime. Prevention would, therefore, be most effective in order to maintain the decline rate of crime.
References
Adams, A. (2015). 30 per cent drop in crime since 2008 . Retrieved 7 September 2017, from http://beehive.govt.nz/release/30-cent-drop-crime-2008
Interpreting Crime Statistics . (2013). Bureau of Justice Statistics' National Crime Victimization Rights (NCVR) . Retrieved 7 September 2017, from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjUxpaHg5TWAhXCvo8KHT0GBrIQFghTMAg&url=https%3A%2F%2Fvictimsofcrime.org%2Fdocs%2Fncvrw2013%2F2013ncvrw_6_statisticaloverviews.pdf%3Fsfvrsn%3D0&usg=AFQjCNHQpAZEqDxgq_ZBTviUeUuFOkVRrA
Lynch, J., & Addington, L. (2006). Understanding Crime Statistics . Leiden: Cambridge University Press.
The Economist. (2013). The curious case of the fall in crime . London: The Economist
