Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1997

Abstract

The biggest problem with the criminal justice system is that too many crimes are committed-too many rapes, too many murders, too many robberies; too much violence that inflicts an untold amount of suffering and destruction on too many people. If that seems obvious, what follows should be equally obvious. The most important step to take to solve the problems of the criminal justice system is to reduce the number of crimes that are committed: to prevent crimes. The best thing we can do to help the victims of crime is to keep them from becoming victims in the first place. Chief Reuben Greenberg is doing an admirable job of that in his own city'-many of his reforms have been adopted by other police departments-but overall, crime prevention has not been a high priority. In general, we don't half try. What do I think we should do that we're not doing? I'm not talking about some liberal, big-government, tax-and-spend programs-such as a Job Corps that really reduces unemployment, or a program for rebuilding destroyed inner cities. These might be good ideas, but I'm talking about something simple and basic: policing.

Download


Included in

Evidence Commons

Share

COinS