Local Commentary

By Rance Thomas

Criminologists and those who specialize in criminal justice have known for years that the crime rate historically declines in the fall and winter months. This was recently stated by Criminologist Richard Rosenfeld, a professor of Criminology at University of Missouri in St. Louis. His comments were made in response to the claim that the federal program “Operation Legend” implemented in seven or eight cities by frecently retired U.S Attorney William Barr was responsible for the decline in the crime rate in St. Louis.
The decline during these months throughout the country is due primarily to the cooler weather and fewer people are outdoors and participating in many summer activities. This is even true for criminals who tend to stay indoors as well when the weather turns cold. During the summer more individuals congregate and offer more opportunities for criminal behavior. Also as more individuals are away from their homes this offers criminals more opportunities for burglaries or committing other criminal acts at their homes.
The most effective way to reduce crime is to have more police officers on the street or at least more police cars in neighborhoods. In other word, the focus needs to be on prevention as well as solving crimes.
Since the Michael Brown shooting in 2014 and other shootings and killing of African-Americans subsequently, there has been fewer police officers and police cars in sight. It appears in many areas that the police are not patrolling neighborhoods as previously. Instead, it appears that they tend to patrol a lot less and respond primarily to 911 calls. This seems to be the case throughout the St. Louis Metropolitan area including the Metro East area.
This is also true for traffic stops. Prior to the police shootings, the demonstrations, and criticism of the police, there were a number of police cars patrolling various neighborhoods and making traffic stops. This was true for state Highway Patrol officers as well, but this has been reduced dramatically also.
It appears that the police are reluctant to stop motorist and individuals as they have done previously. This is probably due to the criticism the police have experienced during the demonstrations and the call to defund or reduce police departments budgets. This could also be partially due to the call to hold them more responsible for their behavior.
Because the police have not been as visible and involved more with the public in recent years , there seems to b e to more crime and illegal behavior. In fact, it appears that many individuals feel that they are not responsible for their actions or can get away anything. This could account for the dramatic shootings and killings throughout the Metropolitan area. Individuals are increasingly shooting into cars and homes with impunity in many cases. That is, only about one third of these crimes reported to the police are ever solved. In fact, according to the statistical reports on crime only approximately 46 percent of violent crimes are reported to the police and a little less than half of them solved.
The disrespect for the law and the low apprehension rate are especially obvious with respect to drivers. Anyone who has driven along a highway recently, can see that many drivers no longer abide by the speed limits. They tend to exceed the speed limit by far and drive dangerously and many more shootings into cars are occurring. In fact, it creates a dangerous situation for those who do abide by the speed limit. This is also true for neighborhoods as well.
Many individuals far exceed the speed limit whether it is 25 or 35 miles per hour. In these cases, many create dangerous situations, and there are few police cars in sight. It is so dangerous in some neighborhoods that speed bumps have been placed on some streets in an attempt to slow down speeders.
In any case, the lack of police visibility and enforcement of the law create a sense of lawlessness or belief that individuals can do what they want and get away with it. This feeling probably also extends to criminal behavior generally.
As many professionals in criminal justice understand, crime can be reduced by the police having more informal contact with the community by establishing community relations programs where the police work with the community by creating a relationship so that they will feel comfortable and trusting of the police. As a result, the community begins to cooperate with the police to prevent criminal behavior and tends to cooperate with the police when crimes are committed.
Dr. Thomas, a retired college professor. is the director o fNorth County Churches Uniting for Racial Harmony and Justice (NCCU)

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us