Where the Danger Lies
MANY people today feel as though the community in which they live is like a battlefield. Because there is so much crime, they are very fearful when they leave their homes.
In a recent Gallup poll, 45 percent of Americans said that they are afraid to walk in their own neighborhood at night. And in larger cities, more than three out of four women said that they are afraid to go out after dark. Of all community problems, Americans put CRIME at the top of the list, even above unemployment or the high cost of living. Do they have good reason?
A study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology indicates that they do. The study found that the number of people being murdered in U.S cities is increasing so fast that “an urban American boy born in 1974 is more likely to die by murder than an American soldier in World War II was to die in combat.” You may find it almost impossible to believe, but the situation is just that serious!
Last year 20,500 Americans were murdered, which is well over twice the number murdered in 1965, just nine years before! At this rate of increase there will be over 40,000 killings a year by the early 1980’s. Thus, in the 1980’s it may take only six or seven years for U.S murder victims to outnumber the 292,131 American combat deaths in World War II!
No question about it, the threat of crime to our life is real and is growing.
All Crime Increasing World Wide
The danger, however, is, not only that of being murdered, but also that of being raped, assaulted, robbed or burglarized. All these crimes have increased at an even faster rate than murder!
In 1974 U.S crime rose a staggering 17 percent over 1973, the largest increase ever. But in the first quarter of 1975 it increased 18 percent over the same period of 1974! U.S. Attorney General Edward Levi called this increase “one of the terrifying facts of life, which we have come to accept as normal.”
Whereas big cities are the most dangerous places, the increase in crime has recently been even more rapid in suburban and rural areas. In 1974 it rose 20 percent in the suburbs, and 21 percent in the rurals. And for the first three months of 1975, robberies alone leaped an astonishing 53 percent in cities of between 10,000 and 25,000 people!
Over 10 million crimes were reported to the police in 1974, and the figure will probably approach 12 million this year. But this is only the tip of the iceberg, as the saying goes. A Census Bureau survey shows that more than two out of three serious crimes are never reported. Why? Largely because victims feel that nothing will be done about them.
The shocking conclusion of the Census Bureau survey is: 37 million serious crimes a year are being committed in the United States, more than three times the number reported. This amounts to seventy murders, rapes, assaults or various types of theft every minute, more than one a second!
Country after country is experiencing a similar crime wave. Of the situation in Italy, The Guardian reports: “It seems that there is no one in Rome who has not had a robbery in the family.”
The French newspaper L’Aurore says: “The climate here no longer is the same. In the subway at night honest people are no longer very relaxed. They hurry. . . . On the street they look over their shoulders frequently.”
Protection—Quest of the Day
A principal concern of people has become their own safety, and that of their property. Typical is the comment of a New York City merchant: “I opened my business 30 years ago and worried only about profits; now my main worry is that I get through the day without being robbed or losing my life.”
In Louisville, Kentucky, a restaurant owner was robbed three times in six months, forcing him to hire armed security guards. “Paying for protection is what it boils down to,” he explains. Ordinary citizens, too, are taking similar measures, hiring private guards and buying all kinds of security devices.
One result has been a booming burglar-alarm business. There are reportedly nearly 6,000 manufacturers of protective devices in the United States, compared with only about 1,000 five years ago! Their yearly sales are estimated to exceed $1 billion.
Many homes have taken on the appearance of fortresses. Bars seal the windows, and spotlights illuminate the property. “I put the bars on my house,” a Detroit widow explained. “At first I felt a little closed in, but you get used to it.” It is a price more and more people are willing to pay.
Yet many people are also afraid to leave their homes, as one Californian noted: “You wouldn’t dare leave your home unprotected for very long in our city (pop. 25,000). A day doesn’t pass that someone isn’t cleaned out entirely.” So, in some cities, people pay a “house-sitter” to watch their home when they leave on vacation.
In most instances it may be obvious where the danger from crime lies, but this is not always so.
Unexpected Sources of Danger?
Most murders, for instance, are not committed by a “criminal element,” such as by robbers or burglars. Rather, almost a third of all victims are related to their killers. Another third are killed by friends or acquaintances.This means that only about a third of the victims are murdered by strangers.
It is noteworthy, too, that murders commonly occur during vacation periods, such as at Christmastime. Also, in a study of 588 murders in Philadelphia, sociologist Martin Wolfgang found that about two thirds of the victims had been killed on weekends. Regarding this, Psychology Today observed: “It’s not surprising that we are killed while we are at ease. After all, this is when we are with those who are most likely to kill us: our relatives, friends, and drinking companions.” Did you realize this?
You may also be surprised to learn who commit most crimes. It is young people. In the United States last year nearly half (45 percent) of the serious crimes—murders, rapes, robberies, and so forth—were committed by youths less than eighteen years old. Children under fifteen commit more crimes than do adults over twenty-five.
Even older criminals fear the youngsters. Says a Chicago holdup man: “These younger criminals, they’re sick. They have no motive for what they’re doing.” And a New Yorker who has been mugged six times in four years warned: “Watch out for the kids, they’re the dangerous ones.”
White-collar crime, such as employee theft, although not so visible, is hurting most of us even more in a financial way than is traditional crime. Norman Jaspan, a noted business-crime expert, says it “adds as much as 15 per cent to the cost of goods and services.” But there is also the cost to us of organized crime, New York special prosecutor Maurice Nadjari claiming: “23 cents of every dollar that we spend goes into the pockets of organized crime.”
Yes, crime not only threatens our safety, but is ‘robbing us blind.’ Yet, Boston Police Commissioner Robert J. DiGrazia recently confessed: “We cannot eliminate or reduce crime. That’s something that’s beyond our capabilities.”
Why are law-enforcement officers at such a loss in the battle against crime? The following story of a big-city police officer may give you insight into the matter.
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Over 37 million serious crimes a year are said to be committed in the United States, more than three times the number reported to the police.
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Those most likely to murder you are your relatives and friends.