When you look around your community, do you feel that politicians’ and bureaucrats’ policies have reduced crime, or do you feel that they’re merely treading water, with every supposed ‘victory’ followed by subsequent crimes? Even small communities spend big sums on crime-fighting, but many of these efforts make no dent in crime. Carrying on as we have been doing only puts police officers and citizens at risk from a failed status-quo policy. There’s a better way than this.
Reason.tv offers an interview with author Mark Kleiman about what’s gone wrong, why, and what can be done.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-lDr3DQnHo
UCLA Professor of Public Affairs Mark Kleiman is “angry about having too much crime and an intolerable number of people behind bars.” The United States is home to five percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of the world’s prisoners, yet, says Kleiman, our high incarceration rate isn’t making us safer.
In his book, When Brute Force Fails, Kleiman explains that, when it comes to punishment, there is a trade-off between severity and swiftness. For too long the U.S. has erred heavily on the side of severity, but if we concentrate enforcement and provide immediate consequences for law-breakers, Kleiman says we can both reduce the crime rate and put fewer people in prison.
Approximately 7 minutes.
Interview by Zach Weissmueller. Shot by Alex Manning. Edited by Weissmueller.
Quick note: Kleiman’s book is available in hardcover, paperback, or Kindle editions.