Some Perspective on CrimeJohn J. DonohueA rational evaluation of criminal justice policy measures designed to
fight crime would seem to be relatively straightforward. To evaluate any
particular policy, one needs to ask three rather simple questions for every
option to be analyzed:
and Criminal Justice Policy
|• ||First, what is the cost of the particular crime-fighting measure?|
|• ||Second, what is the reduction in crime that it will generate? and|
|• ||Third, what is the value of this crime reduction?|
It is an astonishing indictment of scholars and policymakers that so much
time can be spent discussing the issue of crime while so little progress is
made in answering these questions. Where ignorance flourishes, the
opportunities for political gain are often great, and thus we see that crime
has become to many politicians what virtue is to a saint the avenue to
The Crime Rate in Perspective
In trying to assess the possibility of reducing the crime problem in America, it is helpful to consider some historical and comparative data. Is
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Book title: The Crime Conundrum:Essays on Criminal Justice.
Contributors: Lawrence M. Friedman - Editor, George Fisher - Editor.
Publisher: Westview Press.
Place of publication: Boulder, CO.
Publication year: 1997.
Page number: 45.
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