NCJ Number
82653
Date Published
1982
Length
174 pages
Annotation
This 1981 survey of community leaders' opinions regarding measures to combat the increasing fear of crime in 14 major U.S. cities revealed a shift toward punishment as opposed to rehabilitation and a turning away from government solutions toward a community involvement approach.
Abstract
Data for this report were collected by investigative reporters from local newspapers who interviewed influential leaders, such as mayors, judges, district attorneys, and police chiefs. A summary of these officials' impressions and recommendations precedes individual reports on the following cities: Phoenix, Ariz.; Los Angeles; Denver; Miami; Chicago; Detroit; Minneapolis; St. Louis; Cleveland; Memphis, Tenn.; Dallas; Richmond, Va.; Seattle; and Milwaukee. All community leaders agreed that their cities had suffered a marked increase in public fear of crime. Most felt that rehabilitative methods for treating criminal behavior had failed and that sensitivity to the rights of the accused should be secondary to concerns for the rights of the victim and society. The survey indicated that confidence in the ability of government to protect lives and property had diminished strikingly and was being supplanted by self-reliance measures such as fortressing, neighborhood crime watch programs, and private gun ownership. Community leaders identified seven major causes of crime: failure of the criminal justice system, loss of traditional values, unemployment, media and politicians, growth and mobility, drugs and alcohol, and guns. Local citizen participation in anticrime programs received the most enthusiastic and widespread support as a remedy to reduce crime and its attendant fear. Other frequently proposed solutions were increased funds for law enforcement, swift and certain punishment, and victim assistance and restitution. No single recommendation was perceived as a panacea to crime problems, but all were viewed instead as an overall prescription to keep the malady in a state of remission. Graphs and a list of the newspaper articles which provided the basis for this report are included. (Author summary modified)