NCJ Number
75050
Date Published
1981
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This discussion of urban crime covers the effects of racism, poverty, reduced opportunity, and drug trafficking on urban residents; inaccurate crime statistics; ghetto residents as chief urban crime victims; and other topics.
Abstract
Urban crime is an irregular economy in the inner-city ghetto: successful local criminals are admired by the poor; legitimate businesses are used as fronts or support for rackets; and proceeds from gambling, prostitution, and other crimes amounts to 6 percent of the Nation's annual gross national product. Moreover, ordinary ghetto citizens are the primary victims of urban crime, and public housing projects, especially high-rise apartments, are crime breeding grounds. Nevertheless, 50 to 66 percent of all urban property crime and rape are not recorded, and such conditions as density and average age of the population and climate have a great effect on the crime rate. Crime is to be expected where persons are denied the opportunity to work or live in decent housing. Narcotics use and trafficking are important causes of ghetto crime; Detroit alone estimates that 40 percent of its crimes are committed by addicts, while the total yearly profit for heroin trafficking amounts to over $2 billion. Due to the economic and social frustrations and pressures of poverty and segregation, blacks commit crimes most often against one another. Moreover, crime affects the strained race relations in cities and is exacerbated by a lack of minority police officers and the general unresponsiveness of police to ghetto problems. Class exercises, 29 references, and a list of 10 additional readings are supplied.