NCJ Number
128459
Journal
American Journal of Police Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: (1990) Pages: special issue,P 81-126
Date Published
1990
Length
46 pages
Annotation
This paper identifies changing crime patterns in America and their implications for policing.
Abstract
A "crimewarp" is a displacement in crime patterns. Each crimewarp is influenced by a confluence of social, political, economic, and technological forces; forces to which police in the 21st century must respond. Young, male, poor, and uneducated offenders will be displaced by older, more upscale offenders with many women involved in white-collar crime and domestic violence. Crime will be less restricted by geography. Crime that is spatially bound will shift from the Northeast to the Sun Belt and into suburban and rural areas. Street crimes will decrease in relation to more impersonal, far-reaching white-collar crimes involving older offenders and older victims. The burgeoning service economy will escalate the rate of theft, and mega-mergers will create pressures toward fraud. Citizens will become less dependent on the criminal justice system for protection as they will increasingly rely on private police, neighborhood watches, and security hardware. Some civil liberties will be displaced under an ultraconservative political commitment to addressing deviant behavior. Nonlethal force by police will gradually replace lethal force. Implications of these displacements for policing are outlined in this article. 3 notes and 105 references