Crime

It should be a crime to own any Quiet Riot album.

I feel that crime is in general awful or senseless because people have forgotten or never learned how to respect their fellow human.

I agree that crime for the most part is a local or state issue but let us not forget that there are national and international crime rings that do exist. Also, in today’s world let us always be diligent in protecting our nation against terrorists who want to harm us.

What Bill Bennet said about the black male connection to crime was cold hearted. When bill bennet says if we abort every black male baby so that crime would go down..that is like a black leader saying we should abort every white male baby so that there would be less drunk driving...it is racist and hurtful. Black people are not the cause of all crime(look at the collapse of the twin towers...were black people in charge of that problem?)just like not all White people are drunks(I would be ashamed if that were true..because I am not a drunk). People that cause crime can be any race...and it is not there race instead it is their mind and heart and soul. I think criminals are people that have been thown away by people and by life. If we stop looking at race and just try to get along or respect each other..I think crime would go down if we took action that way!

Although crime is terrible, I am confident that it will be eliminated quickly and the forces of justice will prevail. And, there is hope for this on the horizon--violent crime rate is at an all time low. The Justice Department said the nation's crime rate remains at the lowest levels since the government began surveying crime victims in 1973. The four major violent crimes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assaults declined from 1.38 million in 2003 to 1.37 million in 2004. That produced a 2.2 percent drop in the violent crime rate to 465.5 crimes per 100,000 people the lowest since 1974, when it was 461.1. So, like I indicated earlier, not only has murder gone down--so have all other violent crimes. With this statistic, the chance of being affected by a violent crime are .04%. In other words, a 99.96% chance of not being a victim of a violent crime. Even more, the murder rate in the United States is at a 40 year low. The total of 16,137 murders in 2005 works out to 5.5 murders... Read more

Crime isnt' going to be that big of a problem soon enough. Remember you guys, Bill Bennet is very wise.... all we have to do is abort every black baby, and crime well go down.... (please note sarcasm on my part, but not on that sick bastard's.... some "conservative")

Isn't crime by either private citizens or the government the definition of a political issue?

If you investigate most crimes today you will find that most people committing these crimes were under the influence of some substance. There is a tremendous drug trade crossing our borders. The volume is astrinomical. I read a book titled, The Hunting of Pablo Escobar. At the end of the book the author estimated that there are 300 to 400 tons of cocaine entering our country every year. I followed this book up by read Down By the River. This book was about the implication of the Mexican and U.S. governments in the drug trade business. 300 to 400 tons of anything cannot come into our country without the government knowing about it. Somebody is making vast amounts of money on the drug trade. Unimaginably our past two presidents have been implicated in drug use! How messed up is that. Drugs are taking allot of souls and its very painful. The family structure in America is disintegrating. No wonder gangs are quite popular these days. Hey, here's something to think about. Compare gangs fr... Read more

As others have noted, crime is a bit vague and all encompassing to comment effectively. Some general observations would include that since the general police power is held by the separate states and commonwealths, this is primarily a local issue (ie not federal). This means that if the feds are having to fund local police initiatives, the federal tax burden is too high and the state tax burden too low (keeping the total burden the same for that analysis). Another general problem with crime is that prosecutions are getting too political which results in unreasonable sentence structures and a lack of discretion on the part of judges and prosecutors. Politics also pressures prosecuting cases with weak evidence and improper convictions. This all reduces society's faith in the criminal justice system in the long-term. Finally, when comparing the crime rate of the U.S. with other developed countries, one must recognize that the U.S. is relatively more heterogeneous and risk tolerate th... Read more

It's time to correct a false assumption that is constantly being pushed on us by educators and the media. Poverty does not cause crime, regardless of what they say. Crime causes poverty! During the Great Depression when so many people were poor, this was a much safer country than it is today. Every place I have lived, when crime starts making inroads in a neighborhood, property values in that neighborhood go way down and people start moving out, and the place becomes a crime zone. If you seriously think that poverty causes people to break the law, just look at how much safer our society is after Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty.

This is an interesting debate to be had here. Some argue that crime causes poverty while other say that poverty causes crime. I think that this debate creates false perceptions. Businesses and the jobs it creates doesn't come to areas where the crime rate is high. The culture that it creates also isn't conducive for productive citizenship; obviously much cannot get done is such an atmosphere. The first thing that city governments in high crime areas have to do is get a hold of the crime through tough policing without exacerbating tensions within the community. Rudy Giuliani did this with some effectiveness in New York, although some have argued that he was a bit too heavy-handed in his approach. He did have the right idea. Ending crime won't end poverty, but it goes a long way in promoting better business and even educational opportunities for those in afflicted areas.

Long the argument that there is no connection between a high wealth disparity and higher crime has existed, despite immense proof to the contrary. The existence of Western Europe and Japan debunks this myth. In Japan and Western Europe the wealth disparity is far smaller than in the US or Russia and if you compare the statistics, the results are very telling. In the US there are 730 per 100,000 people in prison and in Russia that figure is 690, but in Japan that figure is 37, in Iceland it is 40, in Sweden it is 65, in Norway it is 55, in Ireland it is 55. Similarly, the comparison between crimes committed also shows data proportionate to the prison populations (For example, on a per person basis there are over 130 times more robberies committed in the US yearly then there is in Japan). Vast wealth disparities invariably create a greater tension between the haves and have nots, as the poverty stricken elements of society find themselves with less to live on and increasingly resort to c... Read more

I agree with Redoedo on almost everything he said about this. But I do feel the federal government needs to get involved totally when it comes to hate crimes, abortion crimes, and other crimes that they don't seem to get as involved in.....

This is a local thing. Take care of it yourselves, States.

Like education, crime is a very important political issue, but it is essentially a local issue. Some areas have lower crime rates than others. Furthermore, different areas have to deal with different types of crime. So, in the final analysis, crime is really a local issue, and must be handled by the local governments, because, as the saying goes, one size does not fit all.

After learning of some recent events. I'd have to say that our legal system is messed up and needs to be fixed.

How about a war on poverty instead?

When I watch tv, I see criminals and killers glamorized, rapists are heros, celebrities are let off the hook. Rappers encourage tadays youth to rape and kill police officers and parents. Is it any wonder why we have so much crime?

true crime that is. None of the victimless crap.

I agree with Redoedo. This is not a broad political issue, but a very important issue to local goverment and town meetings. One of the more important "little" issues out there.

For such a broad and general topic, this is really a no-brainer. Crime will always have an effect on every aspect of any society. Leaders of any society must always have the safety of their citizens as one of their concrette standard major priorities. This topic will always be an important political issue.

we need to make those who brake the law pay and pay dearly if need be ,what a waste of monay kepting those like manson alive for what?

Crime is a funny thing because asking how imporatnt crime is is far to broad of a question. For instance does Ken Lay and other white-collar criminals fit into this question? What about non-violent crime, like selling pot? Or is it more directed at violent crime? Well I think we need to prosecute more of these white-collar thieves and continue to go after violent criminals. But I think we need to lighten up on dope heads and sodomites for now.

I think we need to get tougher on crime. Sure, the crime rate may be going down, but it's still too high. We need more law enforcement officers and crime prevention programs.

Folks, crime rates have been dropping for years. Hysteria has been rising. ????? Crime is not the disease, it is a symptom. A schizophrenic, greed-based society is the problem.

America is a little too soft on crime in some aspects. in my opinion, we are a little too soft on pedophiles who molest and kill little kids and adults who have sex with young teenagers, getting them pregnant. we need to impose tougher penalties for violent offenders. we need to impose either capital punishment or life in prison for child rapists and molesters and also impose tougher penalties for drug dealers and traffickers. we also need to keep guns away from our children. The high crime rate is one of the few things I hate about America.

Death penalty for rapists, murders, spies, and attempted murderers.

Crime is not an important issue. What about the Maryland shootings? The victims were shopping, mowing the lawn, and going to school. Their life changed when a gun nut decide to use them as target practice. This killer also destory their families as well. ...... This jerk has the whole area paralyzed with fear. People are avoiding shopping centers. Schools are having lockdowns. Right now, I am worried about my relatives living there. .

Don't even get me started on the gun violence that takes place in this country. In 1998-1999, England had a total of 47 shooting murders. The US of A had what? Nine thousand? Or was it ten? The crime rate seems to have plateaud in the past decade, but that doesn't change the need for precautions. Take care, everyone!

It depends on what view of crime is taken. If crime is actions such as theft, burglary, arson, murder, assult, etc., then I'm all for taking measures to prevent it, and punishing actual criminals. But if crime refers to 20 year olds having a beer, a harmless guy smoking pot and watching Scooby Doo, or two gay people having relations, then I don't think these actions should be stopped by the government, and those who want to kidnapp (imprison) these people are wrong.

How can you possibly think that if guns are present, crime will go down? Gun control is crucial in bringing down the crime rate.

I just have to tell you Americans out there: Your legal system is terrible! Take for example the case of Swede Annika Östberg who is serving a life time sentence for a murder commited by her boyfriend who shot himself and left her to face sentence. She is a Swedish citizen and Sweden has pleaded to the American goverment to release her to a Swedish prison so that she can serve her sentence at home. So far the US has refused, not even changing their minds when the Swedish prime-minister Goran Persson met with George W Bush less than a month ago. I think that's a real apalling thing to do to someone who wasn't even guilty in the first place.

Back in the ole days U could leave your windows and doors open,but then U didn't C a lot of trash on TV. So whose really 2 blame? I think we as good americans have done it all 2 ourselves!

I am not quite sure where crime fits in the total landscape of U.S. Politics with the exception of Federal crimes and prosecution. Crime is society and regionally based. Contrary to those who desire a larger government and one in control of state activities, it is a local issue and should be managed at the state and municipal levels.

Crime can never be stoped as long as everything cost money someone will steal,and as long as we have drugs people will kill,so I think we could never prevent crime completly

MORE GUNS = LESS CRIME.

This issue varies in importance from locality to locality. I do not think it is important from a national point of view, but many cities should look to the approach Guiliani took in NYC as an example for how to solve endemic crime problems.