Perspectives
ON WHY THE CRIME RATE MAY HAVE FALLEN THAT HAVE BEEN DISAPPROVED.
1. The Strong Economy of the 1990s
" Real GDP per capita grew by almost 30 percent between 1991 and 2001."
The economy was also booming in the 1960s, but there was no effect on crime.
2. Changing Demographics
By the 1990s, Baby Boomers were elderly; elderly have the lowest arrest rate per capita.
Although this has led to a drop in "property crime by as much as
5– 6 percent.", it is offset by the increase in the African American population from "12.1 percent to 12.9 percent". "[African Americans] have elevated victimiza-
tion and offending rates relative to other Americans, particularly for homicide,
where the differences across races are almost an order of magnitude."
3. Better Policing Strategies
Many claim that new techniques used such as identifying crime “hot spots ” and using the strategy of “community policing” more widely decreased the crime rate . However, there is no way to efficiently gather data to support better policing strategies correlation on the crime rate.
4. Gun Control Laws
"There are more than 200 million firearms in private hands in the United States—more than the number of adults (Cook and Ludwig, 1996)." In 1993, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act instituted stricter requirements for background checks before a gun is sold. However, Ludwig and Cook (2000) report no difference in homicide trends after the passage of the Brady Act. This is just one of the examples the ineffectiveness of new gun control laws.
5. Laws Allowing the Carrying of Concealed Weapons
Due to the highly publicized work of Lott and Mustard (1997), many believed that the decline in the crime rate was because of new concealed-weapon laws, and their statistics showed a correlation.
However, as their data set is extended beyond their original time-set, the results disappear (ayres and Donohue 2003).
6. Increased Use of Capital Punishment
"Mocan and Gittings (2003) estimate of six
murders deterred per execution—the observed increase in the death penalty from 14 executions in 1991 to 66 in 2001 would eliminate between 300 and 400 homicides, for a reduction of only 1.5 percent in the homicide rate."
The death penalty is so uncommonly used, it is unlikely to deter a criminal action.
