Effective Crime Control

jaeger115 · Post by **jaeger115** » 2003-01-02 10:03pm

People shooting clerks for 50 bucks are usually on drugs and need some cash for a quick fix, not people with no hope for the future at all.

Got any proof?

Falcon · Post by **Falcon** » 2003-01-02 10:25pm

jaeger115 wrote:
People shooting clerks for 50 bucks are usually on drugs and need some cash for a quick fix, not people with no hope for the future at all.
Got any proof?

From the Bureau of Justice

"In 1998 an estimated 61,000 convicted jail inmates said they had committed their offense to get money for drugs. Of convicted property and drug offenders, about 1 in 4 had committed their crimes to get money for drugs. A higher percentage of drug offenders in 1996 (24%) than in 1989 (14%) were in jail for a crime committed to raise money for drugs. "

"In 1997 19% of State prisoners and 16% of Federal inmates said they committed their current offense to obtain money for drugs. These percentages represent a slight increase from 1991, when 17% of State and 10% of Federal prisoners identified drug money as a motive for their current offense. "

Year Number of homicides Percent drug related

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1987 17,963 4.9 %
1988 17,971 5.6
1989 18,954 7.4
1990 20,273 6.7
1991 21,676 6.2
1992 22,716 5.7
1993 23,180 5.5
1994 22,084 5.6
1995 20,232 5.1
1996 16,967 5.0
1997 15,837 5.1
1998 14,276 4.8
1999 12,658 4.5
2000 12,943 4.4

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-01-02 10:27pm

And what on Earth makes you think that people who are using drugs are NOT people who have lost hope?

You feel that people who have hope for the future turn to hard drugs? I would be interested to know your reasoning behind this.

Falcon · Post by **Falcon** » 2003-01-02 10:42pm

Darth Wong wrote:And what on Earth makes you think that people who are using drugs are NOT people who have lost hope?

You feel that people who have hope for the future turn to hard drugs? I would be interested to know your reasoning behind this.

Because many wealthy people who have rich and full lives use drugs. Movie stars, popular pop stars, etc... Many people going to college use drugs despite that they have many opportunities before them, a career, a good job, etc... Often times they lose these careers, jobs and opportunities due to their drug abuses.

The question should be, do people who commit violent crime and take drugs have no hope left? Doing drugs is the easy way out, I can think of few cases where someone in a modern first world nation would have 'no hope' As I said before even unskilled laborers can make far more money than any typical criminal gains through casual crime. We have social programs like welfare, we have charities, people have hope if they want to work hard and reach for it. People choose crime as an easy way out, or to get a quick fix for a drug habit, or for some other infathomable reason, but seldom because of 'hopelessness'