Sunday, January 5, 2014

Violent Crime Is Down; The Reasons May Surprise You

Violent crime is down--and down by quite a bit. But looking past the usual self-serving analyses by the usual interested parties, we find that experts, based on real insight and research, offer a lot more original, reliable and useful understandings of several of the factors actually responsible. And you may be surprised. Think violent video games--I know, you thought they were part of the problem--rethinking and moving beyond old public housing projects, declining cocaine use, Roe v. Wade, immigration, and more. The truth so often does surprise, doesn't it?
 
From NBCNEWS.com:
 
Sharper policing strategies, stiffer prison sentences and newer technologies are again being credited as police officials proffer explanations for the two-decade decline in violent crime in America’s biggest cities. But experts say the real reasons behind the downturn -- which included double-digit decreases in homicide rates last year in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles -- are more complicated and may involve factors as mundane as that X-Box sitting in the living room, Americans’ changing work habits and what comes out of your gas pump.
 
Here are seven other seldom-mentioned factors that those who study crime -- and even some who fight it – say may be helping keep a lid on harmful behavior: [Link to article by clicking on blue underlined article title, immediately below.]
 
---“Are the Xbox and unleaded gas helping keep you safe from violent crime?” Andrew Blankstein, Investigations, NBCNEWS.com (1.4.14)
 

No comments: