Violence on the Increase in the USA

Violent crime has been seeing a steady increase in the USA since 2005, escalating, in the first half of this year, by 2.7%. Last year, crime rose 2.5% – the most significant increase since 1990. FBI statistics, released this week, show that cities with 500,000 to a million inhabitants had the most marked increase in violence. The larger cities are witnessing somewhat conflicting fates however : violence is on the decline in Los Angeles, steady in New York, and seeing a phenomenal rise in Houston, the capital of Texas. The police have been the first to react to these worrying statistics. Gene R. Voegtlin, representative of the leading police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, is concerned about federal government cut backs of State Police funding. The pursuit of terrorism and espionage of American citizens, by the federal police (FBI), are benefiting from this funding at the expense of local-level police work, who have dropped in number by 10% since 2001. In addition to the budgetary factor, according to the Washington Post, experts blame the increase in drug use, and the lack of employment for young people living on the fringe of society, and funding, dedicated to preventive action. The government chose instead to tighten repressive laws, which resulted in the imprisonment of 7 million people i.e. one in thirty-two Americans. They consequently achieved a world record, just ahead of China. Ryan King, head of a group requesting the reform of the penal system, considers that these figures prove that “the social programmes have failed, including those devoted to education, poverty, urban development, and health and child care”. In a country where the death penalty, overflowing prisons, zero tolerance and the ‘Taser’ (the new weapon capable of striking down suspects at a distance) are an integral part of police work, government choices could become one of the issues of the presidential elections of 2008. This should be noted by any who are inspired by the American model of security.