Crime rate in United States of America - Essay Example

Affiliation Crime Rate in United s of America Introduction The crime rates in the United s of America have dropped significantly especially in the1990’s. Take for instance the violent crimes that took place in United States of America dropped by 28 percent since the 1990’s something that is worth lauding. While the national property crime rates dropped by 28 percent signifying a steady decrease in the rate of occurrence of property associated crimes. However despite the drop, the levels of crime are still alarmingly high something that could be attributed to a number of reasons according to Levitt (2009). This is why we aim to take an in depth analysis into some of the reasons behind the crime rate being high. In so doing we hope that we can identify the major reasons affecting the crime levels in the United States of America and possibly come up with the best solutions to help drop the crime rate. According to Allison (2009), elements such as population, poverty rates, income per capita and unemployment rates are the major aspects which our discussions will be hinged on. In the 90’s for instance when the crime rate was high the rate of unemployment according appendix one stood at a high also i.e 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 the unemployment rate was 6.9, 8.7, 11.1 and 10.3. Some justify the drop in crime rate to the stringent rules and legislations put in place by a onetime mayor Rudolph Guiliani and his administration which basically introduced policing that was aggressive. The mayor introduced this aggressive form of policing with the mentality that the smaller crimes led to the larger crimes and that the participants in the smaller crimes are most likely those that graduate to the bigger crimes something also observed by Blumstein (2002). As such the levels of misdemeanor arrests in United States of America at the time were high at 70 percent. Interestingly with every 10 percent increase in the misdemeanor arrest made the crime rate especially in the case of robberies dropped by a percentage of between 2.5 to 3.2 while the theft of motor vehicles also dropped with a percentage of 1.6 to 2.1. However the gap with this was even with further misdemeanor arrests there was no significant change on other crimes such as the burglary crime, assault and murder which is what Becker (1968) also concluded. Population Population has a direct impact on crime rate and the occurrence of the same in the society. For instance Merlo (2003) attributes the drop in crime rate rates to factors such as the demographic factors and their occurrence in the society. They justify this by pointing out to the fact that the drop in crime rate in the 90’s is due to the growth of the police force by 35 percent something that led to a lot of arrests and rise in the number of prison inmates by 24 percent. This is a pattern that had an impact on the population of the people of United States of America since for instance the number of the youth significantly dropped after the numerous arrests that were made at the time. This means that the role population in determination of the crime levels cannot be overlooked. In the case of the 90’s the sudden reduction in the number of youths in United States of America after the numerous arrests made point to the fact that the youth segment of the City’s population were taking part in lots of the crime that took place at the time. This could be attributed to other factors such as unemployment which is high amongst the youth. As such the youth perceived crime as a dangling carrot which offered them an easy way out. As a matter of fact this notion of unemployment is cemented by the fact that most of the arrests made were because of misdemeanor something which indicates that the crimes were just to make ends meet and not for any other interests something that was also noted by Allison (2009). Poverty Rates Poverty is simply being unable to afford basic needs. Machin & Meghir (2009) note that people who are unable to fend for themselves are often a frustrated lot and this may perhaps be the reason why they opt to indulge in crime to make ends meet. Over the years it has become clear that the higher the poverty levels the higher the crime rates something that points out to the fact that crime rate is directly proportional to the poverty levels in a particular society. The significant drop in crime rates especially in United States of America has been attributed to the drop in the levels of factors that fuel poverty such as unemployment. Take, for instance, the drop in crime rate between 1990 and 1999 which while at the national level was down by 25 percent, in United States of America this was down by 39 percent. The other contributing factor to poverty according to Merlo (2003), is minimum wage of the people who are actively employed also affected the crime rate levels. The increase in the minimum wage level had a significant impact on the crime as increase in minimum wage saw a drop in murders and robbery levels by 3.4 to 3.7 percent. On the other hand a 10 percent increase of the minimum wages led to reduction in the occurrences of murder by 6.3 to 6.9 percent. Interestingly with every 10 percent increase in the misdemeanor arrest made the crime rate especially in the case of robberies dropped by a percentage of between 2.5 to 3.2 while the theft of motor vehicles also dropped with a percentage of 1.6 to 2.1. However the gap with this was even with further misdemeanor arrests there was no significant change on other crimes such as the burglary crime, assault and murder. Income per capita What people make is critical to the kind of lives they lead. This is why the minimum wage of the people who are actively employed also affected the crime rate levels according to Merlo (2003). The increase in the minimum wage level had a significant impact on the crime as increase in minimum wage saw a drop in murders and robbery levels by 3.4 to 3.7 percent. On the other hand a 10 percent increase of the minimum wages led to reduction in the occurrences of murder by 6.3 to 6.9 percent. Interestingly with every 10 percent increase in the misdemeanor arrest made the crime rate especially in the case of robberies dropped by a percentage of between 2.5 to 3.2 while the theft of motor vehicles also dropped with a percentage of 1.6 to 2.1. However the gap with this was even with further misdemeanor arrests there was no significant change on other crimes such as the burglary crime, assault and murder. Unemployment rates People often indulge in crime because of the incentives they stand to gain from them especially from an economic point of view according to Allison (2009). This is why time and again the rates of unemployment have been found to be some of the significant contributors to the crime levels. According to appendix one unemployment rates were lowest during the years between 2005, 2006 and 2007 with rates at 5.8, 5.0 and 4.9, a time when also crime levels were relatively low. After 2008 economic crises the crime levels have been on the rise with the rates of unemployment also rising from 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 i.e 9.2, 9.6, 9.1, 9.3 and 8.7. As such the rates of crime as well as the levels of unemployment contribute positively to the reasons and justification behind the occurrence of crime. This is why most of the overpopulated places especially in urban areas which are constituted with people living in deplorable conditions and below the poverty line often record the highest crime rates something noted by Halcoussis (2004). This means there is a positive correlation between the unequal distribution of income and the rate at which crime occurs. This means that people are attracted to crime when they are not able to earn an honest living since at the end of the day they have to make ends meet as per the unemployment numbers in appendix one: rates of unemployment also rising from 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 i.e 9.2, 9.6, 9.1, 9.3 and 8.7 as crime rose. People who are unable to afford to earn an honest living through employment opt to indulge in crime to make ends meet. Over the years it has become clear that the higher the poverty levels the higher the crime rates something that points out to the fact that crime rate is directly proportional to the poverty levels in a particular society as per Merlo (2003). The significant drop in crime rates especially in United States of America has been attributed to the drop in the levels of factors that fuel poverty such as unemployment. Take, for instance, the drop in crime rate between 1990 and 1999 which while at the national level was down by 25 percent, in United States of America this was down by 39 percent. Model Specification To study the effect of various factors on crime rate, Equation 1 below is estimated using a cross sectional data set of United States of America State up to 2013. Equation 1: CrimeRatei=f[(Popi, Agei,, Unempi, Educi, Sexi, Incomei, Arresti, Povertyi) + errori] The Dependent variable is the crime rate of each individual state expressed in number of crimes per 100,000 citizens. The definition and expected signs of each individual independent variable used in Equation 1 is given in Table 2. Table 2: Independent variables included in Equation 1 with their definitions and expected signs of their coefficients. Independent Variable Definition Expected Sign of Coefficients Pop Population Density; population per mile Positive Age Percent of population over the age of 65 Negative Unemp Unemployment rate Positive Educ Percent of people over the age of 25 with a college education Negative Sex Percentage of females in population Ambiguous Income Per capita income Negative Arrest Arrests per police agency per 100,000 citizens in 1999 Negative Poverty Percentage of people below the poverty line positive Works Cited Allison, John P. "Economic Factors and the Rate of Crime." Land Economics 48 (1972): 193-96. JSTOR. 9 Feb. 2009 . Becker, Gary S. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach." The Journal of Political Economy 76 (1968): 169-217. Blumstein, Alfred. "Crime Modeling." Operations Research 50 (2002): 16-24. JSTOR. 9 Feb. 2009 . Halcoussis, Dennis. Understanding Econometrics with Economic Applications. United States of America: South-Western College Pub, 2004. Levitt, Steve D. "The Economics of Crime and the Criminal Justice System." National Bureau of Economic Research. 9 Feb. 2009 . Machin, Stephen, and Costas Meghir. "Crime and Economic Incentives." The Journal of Human Resources 39 (2004): 958-79. JSTOR. 9 Feb. 2009 . Merlo, Antonio. "Income Distribution, Police Expenditures, and Crime: A Political Economy Perspective." Journal of European Economic Association 1 (2003): 450-58. JSTOR. 9 Feb. 2009 . Appendix One: Unemployment Rates In U.S.A from 1976 to 2013. Year Annual 1976 11.1 1977 10.2 1978 9.0 1979 8.7 1980 8.6 1981 8.9 1982 9.7 1983 9.6 1984 8.7 1985 8.2 1986 7.4 1987 5.7 1988 5.1 1989 6.7 1990 6.9 1991 8.7 1992 11.1 1993 10.3 1994 8.8 1995 8.2 1996 8.8 1997 9.4 1998 7.9 1999 6.9 2000 5.8 2001 6.1 2002 8.0 2003 8.3 2004 7.1 2005 5.8 2006 5.0 2007 4.9 2008 5.5 2009 9.2 2010 9.6 2011 9.1 2012 9.3 2013 8.7 Read More