Suggestions on how to reduce crime in bad neighborhoods.

[doublenickels]

Reduce crime in Chicago: MOVE THE COUNTY JAIL AND COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE into the extreme northwest or extreme southwest portion of Cook County.

[ProgMichael]

Forgive me if this was covered, but this is WELL worth a read:

Cathy Lanier Changes Policing in D.C. and Maybe Nation

The Chief in DC has it right. Murders go unsolved because many people in these neighborhoods just DO NOT trust the police. It's a problem in a lot of cities, but Chicago especially. This is not intended as a knock on our City's finest. I wouldn't take their job in a million years and the good ones (the solid majority) are heroes in my book.

That being said, standard by-the-book police work isn't going to drop the murder rate. You need to establish yourself in the neighborhood as someone who can be trusted. Only when there's mutual cooperation between residents and police that you can really lower the violent crime rate.

[Wild100s]

1. Teen pregnancy isn't the issue, considering there have been an decline in such pregnancies across the country. And for anyone to suggest forced sterilization of minors ("temporarily" or otherwise) is pretty naive. I mean, are all teenage girls going to be sterilized in Chicago or just those who reside in "bad" neighborhoods? We all know that there are more Planned Parenthood facilities in predominantly minority concentrated neighborhoods than anywhere else which is supposed to reduce teen pregnancy.

2. We have to address poverty. Places like Englewood, where a lot of violence happens, is one of the poorest communities in the entire country. As of 2011, Englewood's poverty rate was 46 percent. Economic development in these high-crime areas don't exist for the most part, which is due in large part to economic segregation.

3. Since we are talking about bad neighborhoods, schools play a role as well. A lot of the schools where this violence occurs have been historically under performing as evidenced by many of them slated for closure or consolidation.

4. Jobs: 21.4 percent of the black population in Chicago is unemployed according to data. I would assume in bad neighborhoods, that number is significiantly higher. And it is tremendously difficult for black males especially to land jobs even with the economy is OK. Now that the outlook is shaky to say the least, it's even tougher, especially for men who have criminal records. Add to that there are very few black owned businesses to hire these guys only creates another hurdle.

But we have to fix the poverty problem first in order to see any progress. It does no one any good to focus on stuff like teen pregnancy when folks are living in the same conditions.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by doublenickels

Reduce crime in Chicago: MOVE THE COUNTY JAIL AND COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE into the extreme northwest or extreme southwest portion of Cook County.

Put it in Winettka.

[TheSunshineKid]

Get a mentor (Big Brother Big Sister)
Teach self accountability
Teach respect
Get a part time job
Get involved with sports and/or extracurricular activities
Take academics seriously, even if you suck at it.
Volunteer in your neighborhood
Start a neighborhood watch

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by Wild100s

1. Teen pregnancy isn't the issue, considering there have been an decline in such pregnancies across the country. And for anyone to suggest forced sterilization of minors ("temporarily" or otherwise) is pretty naive.

I agree with you completely about education and poverty being two very important points, but a teen pregnancy ties directly into education and poverty. It increases the odds that a girl won't finish high school and makes it very difficult for her to find a job - making her both uneducated and poor. Daycare costs more than most entry level jobs pay, so a teen pregnancy without a family support network is a sure fire path to poverty.

Crime has dropped dramatically over the last 25 years or so, and that drop tracks pretty well to the decline in teen pregnancies. There was also a controversial paper published about a decade ago that makes a compelling case that the drop in crime in the 90's is due to legalized abortion:

First, we demonstrate that crime rates began to fall 18 years after the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion across the nation, just the point at which babies born under legalized abortion would be reaching the peak adolescent crime years....

Second, we show that the five states that legalized abortion in 1970--three years before Roe vs. Wade--saw crime begin to decrease roughly three years earlier than the rest of the nation....

Third, we demonstrate that states with high abortion rates in the mid-1970s have had much greater crime decreases in the 1990s than states that had low abortion rates in the 1970s.....

Fourth, we show that the abortion-related drop in crime is occurring only for those who today are under the age of 25....

I don't think this supports sterilization in any way shape or form (forced/coercive sterilization or abortion is inhuman), but it does show that unwanted babies are more likely to become criminals and/or a burden to society. Access to sex ed, birth control, and even abortions help to keep the population of unwanted babies down, and thereby help to reduce crime rates. Overall there is no magic bullet to solve crime problems, but reducing teen pregnancies certainly is one of the proven things that needs to be focused on.

[Wild100s]

Originally Posted by Attrill

I agree with you completely about education and poverty being two very important points, but a teen pregnancy ties directly into education and poverty. It increases the odds that a girl won't finish high school and makes it very difficult for her to find a job - making her both uneducated and poor. Daycare costs more than most entry level jobs pay, so a teen pregnancy without a family support network is a sure fire path to poverty.

Crime has dropped dramatically over the last 25 years or so, and that drop tracks pretty well to the decline in teen pregnancies. There was also a controversial paper published about a decade ago that makes a compelling case that the drop in crime in the 90's is due to legalized abortion:



I don't think this supports sterilization in any way shape or form (forced/coercive sterilization or abortion is inhuman), but it does show that unwanted babies are more likely to become criminals and/or a burden to society. Access to sex ed, birth control, and even abortions help to keep the population of unwanted babies down, and thereby help to reduce crime rates. Overall there is no magic bullet to solve crime problems, but reducing teen pregnancies certainly is one of the proven things that needs to be focused on.

You might be right. And I respect your perspective.

However, as a black man, I'm concerned that the talk of abortion or sterilization is viewed from the prism of controlling the population of black babies as opposed to white, Hispanic or Asian babies. And that's a real sensitive issue.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by Wild100s

You might be right. And I respect your perspective.

However, as a black man, I'm concerned that the talk of abortion or sterilization is viewed from the prism of controlling the population of black babies as opposed to white, Hispanic or Asian babies. And that's a real sensitive issue.

I think you have to look at not just the baby but the impact to the mom - being a mom is stressful, period. Throw in immaturity (much less poverty and a lack of support networks) and mom is not going to get a chance to realize her own dreams, much less be in a position to nurture their child's.