What’s Driving Florida’s Crime Decline?

Long before he started crunching the numbers, Florida State University (FSU) criminologist Bill Bales knew Florida’s crime rate, like that of the nation, had been dropping for years. But it wasn’t until he began analyzing the state’s crime statistics over the last 30 years that he realized just how safe the state has become.

“I was astonished by the consistency of the decline and the magnitude of the decline,” said Bales, of FSU’s College of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

“Somebody should be advertising the fact that the level of safety of citizens and tourists over the last 20 years has improved by 52 percent. It’s been cut in half. That is remarkable.”

A study by Bales and criminologist Alex Piquero of the University of Texas at Dallas found dramatic decreases in overall crime rates from 1991, when Florida’s crime rate peaked, to 2010 in all seven “index crimes” tracked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)— murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft — as well as property crimes.

“It is tremendous news,” Bales said. “Can you imagine if cancer rates had declined by 52 percent and almost consistently every year over 20 years? We would be dancing in the streets.”




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Longer prison terms really do cut crime, study shows

Tougher prison sentences reduce crime, particularly burglary, according to ground-breaking research. The study, by academics at Birmingham University, also found that during periods when police detect more offences, crime tends to fall overall, suggesting that levels of police activity – and therefore of staffing – have a direct impact on criminal activity. The findings are likely to be seized on by critics of the government's plans for reducing the number of police officers as part of spending cuts.

The research, carried out for Civitas, an independent thinktank, used local sentencing data released by the Ministry of Justice under freedom of information requests to track the effectiveness of penal policy and policing on recorded crime across the 43 forces in England and Wales between 1993 and 2008.
The researchers concluded that prison was particularly effective in reducing property crime when targeted at serious and repeat offenders. They concluded that an increase of just one month in the average sentence length for burglaries – from 15.4 to 16.4 months – would reduce burglaries in the following year by 4,800, out of an annual total of 962,700.

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Arguments for the Legalization of Marijuana Don't Stand Up

The "war" on drugs has improved the nation's health and is a good social policy. There is overwhelming evidence showing that our drug problem has decreased, due to a three-pronged approach of prevention, treatment, and law enforcement. Illegal drug use is almost 40 percent less since its high point in 1979. Marijuana use is down almost 50 percent since its peak in the 1970s. Cocaine use is down by 80 percent since its peak in the 1980s. Although we are still challenged by amphetamines and prescription drug abuse, the overall trend is that drug abuse and drug crime have gone down. We achieved this with tougher laws and drug use prevention efforts, such as education. We also use drug treatment in the criminal justice system and drug testing and treatment in employment.

The legalization advocates seek to demoralize the public with propaganda such as "the war on drugs has failed." If they can get the public to doubt the effectiveness of our efforts, then perhaps the public will support legalization.

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Jail users, not kids — Miriam

Children, who are mature minors at age 16 or 17, rarely commit crimes on their own and are usually directed by adult masterminds, said Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Reacting to the results of an official online survey by the House of Representatives on lowering the minimum age of criminal liability, Santiago said the public disapproves of placing children under the criminal justice system.

“Criminal justice should never be a controlling paradigm for children, especially for those who have committed non-heinous offenses,” said Santiago.
“Even in heinous crimes, she said the intention should still be the child’s restoration, rehabilitation and reintegration. It is in these cases, where diversion could be utilized to help in the protection and rehabilitation of the child”, adds Santiago.

She reiterated her proposal made in an amendment speech on the original Juvenile Justice Bill in 2005 that for “non-heinous offenses,” children under 18 years should be totally exempt from criminal liability but can be subjected to a child welfare, restoration, intervention, and protection program to be determined by a social worker.

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When Innocent Prisoners Finally Go Free, Their Prosecutors Do, Too

The outcome was already determined, the stories already written, but the cameras and the recorders were out anyway, waiting for the judge to say the words. He was about to declare Richard Miles actually, technically, legally innocent of a 1994 murder, a shooting at a Texaco station near Bachman Lake. A higher court had already declared him innocent. There was nothing left to do but a little criminal-justice theater.

The reporters in attendance wondered what would make this day's story unique among the wave of stories about innocent prisoners. Miles was about to provide their answer. A thin man with a strong jawline and determined face, Miles listened to the judge's apology and then, before he addressed the crowd, leaned toward his lawyer.

"Can we hit them with a bomb?" he asked. "Is it a good time to hit them with a bomb?"

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New Orleans Struggles With Murder Rate, And Trust

New Orleans now has the highest per capita murder rate in the country. Most of the killings are concentrated in the city's poorest neighborhoods — places like Central City, just a few blocks north of the stately mansions that line St. Charles Avenue.

The city's mayor is launching a new program aimed at cracking what he describes as a deeply rooted culture of violence. But victims complain that a failed criminal justice system has left the streets to vigilante justice, with innocent residents caught in the crossfire.

On a recent morning in Central City, James Robinson is out for his usual stroll when he notices that the corner benches, where he often takes a rest, are missing.

"They tore the benches down, huh?" he asks neighbor Theresa Elloie. She says it's a blessing that the police cleared the benches out; they had become a hotbed for drug deals.

Robinson, 73, says the crime here is worse than he can remember.

"Every time you look up, it's a killing," he says. "It wasn't no killing up this way too much — not around here. But it's happening here now. Sit on the porch, you gettin' shot."


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Doctor shines light on DNA in Forensics

Any contact between human beings leaves behind DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid.) “When we shake hands we exchange sweat and this as well as saliva, hair and anything containing nucleated cells hold DNA,” explained Dr Valery Alexandrov, a forensic pathologist for the past 40 years who is currently based at the Forensic Science Centre in St James. Dr Alexandrov, who has studied and worked with DNA exclusively, spends most of his working hours uncovering evidence to help police solve murders—the type found on a victim’s body and left, usually unknowingly, by attackers. DNA is found in any nucleus containing cell in the body—every cell except for red blood cells and the skin keratin. The millions of DNA in the human body are contained in sweat, saliva and even hair. Every human being gets 50 per cent of their DNA from their mother and 50 per cent from their father. “This is the basis for paternity testing,” said Alexandrov.

In clinical applications, DNA can indicate genetic abnormalities, mutations and radiation that causes genetic mutations.“If you have even a single cell, you can extract DNA,” he said, adding that the science DNA is an analysis of match. Alexandrov said before DNA evidence was introduced to courts, police relied on blood groups to investigate crimes. “The problem was that most of the population have the same blood groups so the evidence was sometimes inconclusive,” he said. “DNA evidence is 99.99 per cent accurate and has made a remarkable difference in forensics.” However, Dr Alexandrov said, DNA can be difficult to understand. “People are usually misled, I think by the media, they think autopsy is a magic tool that solves crimes. “The autopsy, which includes DNA evidence, is important and essential but only when combined with a police investigation. An autopsy cannot solve crimes.” Alexandrov said people usually believe if DNA is found on a body at a crime scene, it is 100 per cent implied that the victim was assaulted.

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Juror shortage hurts justice system

There seems to be no immediate solution to the shortage of jurors which has been plaguing the local justice system for several years. Despite a recent amendment to the Jury Act for jurors to be selected from the Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN) registry, lawyers practising in the criminal courts are not optimistic that it will solve the problem. Many weeks, cases scheduled for trial, especially those involving multiple accused, have to be put off because of insufficient jurors. The police serve hundreds of summonses each month but only a small percentage of persons served turn up.

Jury summonses are not yet being selected from the TRN registry list as checks last week revealed that jurors were still being chosen from the voters list. "In order to perfect a jury list from the TRN registry, it will definitely take some time because there has to be a sifting through of the names on the list" a member of the court staff explained. There are no checks presently to determine if persons who are summoned for jury duty have previous convictions and according to a policeman, if that was done, it would only reduce the number of persons who are available and willing to serve.


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Compassion vs. safety: Should aging/ill prisoners be released?

After 13 years in prison, Ronzell Richardson, 46, is getting out soon. His 20 years-to-life sentence for arson and other offenses hasn’t run out and he’s not up for parole until 2018. But Richardson, an inmate at the Walsh Regional Medical Unit within Mohawk Correctional Facility in Rome, has sarcoidosis and liver failure that eventually will kill him, according to prison staff who spoke with Richardson’s consent. Richardson was granted medical parole earlier this month.

Richardson, who cannot get out of bed without assistance, said he used to assume he would die in prison, an unhappy thought. “You would like to be around your family when you’re sick,” he said. As prisoners age in New York and across the country, officials are searching for innovative and affordable strategies to meet their health care needs. But a growing number of advocates are calling for greater use of an alternative strategy – releasing older and sick inmates.


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Another Crook Caught Because of Posting on Facebook

Yet another criminal has managed to get himself caught after posting on Facebook. Convicted robber James Tindell skipped out of Oregon earlier this year to avoid court-ordered drug treatment and other conditions he had accepted so as to avoid prison. But instead of flying under the radar, Tindell made Facebook posts that taunted his probation officer, complained about the judge who sentenced him, and ranted about the criminal justice system. Not only that, he posted things like “I’m in Alabama” and a sonogram of his unborn child that showed the name of the hospital in Alabama where it was taken.

His probation officer spotted the posts and asked prosecutors to issue a nationwide arrest warrant. Tindell was then apprehended after getting pulled over for speeding -- another genius move by someone running from the law. In the end the clueless criminal was ordered to reimburse the state $2600 for flying him back to Oregon and sent to prison for 2½ years. It’s far from an isolated case. Last year a thief in Georgia used a cell phone he found in a stolen purse to post a picture of himself on the victim’s Facebook page. He likely didn’t know the phone’s owner had it set up to automatically post photos to the social network.


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