The challenge of crime in a free society – Term Paper

United States department of justice

Crime rates have been increasing every year. The Justice Department has reported that the number of incarcerated people in the United States has quadrupled since the 1970s, being the country with the highest proportion of imprisoned individuals. Law enforcement agencies, criminal research experts, sociologists, criminal psychologists and other stakeholders have given different strategies to reduce crime in the society. One of the innovative ways is community policing. It involves creating partnerships between members of the community and police officers to report suspicious behavior respond fast to crime and gather intelligence in different neighborhoods. Some trained law enforcement personnel and civilians can live among the people especially in violent neighborhoods to ensure that they can prevent crime before it happens. The second way is through the creation of a rehabilitation models for delinquent adolescents. Jailing juvenile offenders only make them hardened criminals. Correctional facilities should assist them to fit in the society, which would guarantee reduced crime in the future. 

Community policing is a feasible method of crime prevention. The Justice Department dedicates more than $3 billion every year to police departments across the nation to liaise with members of the community. They can organize training programs and seminars to educate the public on how to identify suspicious behavior, organize neighborhood watch campaigns and collaborate with law enforcement officers. The main challenge in implementing the strategy is that police officers do not respect residents from high-crime areas. Everyone becomes a suspect without probable cause. They are stopped and frisked in public and fear that cooperating with the police will make them traitors.

Police-community relations

There is the mentality that anyone in a dangerous place is a potential criminal, which strains police-community relationships.it becomes difficult to gain trust and ultimately prevent crimes. The only way it is possible is through integration and becoming part of the society with precincts put in place in high-crime areas. The juvenile rehabilitation implementation involves education, training seminars, integration into stable families and counseling. It guarantees the safety of future generations by keeping individuals that have the potential to break the law in check. 

If I created a new method of crime prevention, it would be the introduction of predictive policing technology for law enforcement agencies. It involves maintaining a central database for every individual detailing any suspicious behavior or extenuating circumstances that might push one to commit a crime. The method utilizes mathematical, analytical and predictive techniques using to identify potential criminal activity. It is possible to point out persons with the highest probability of being perpetrators, victims or offenders using a computer program. Revolutionary technology can take several variables such as rapid changes in patterns of behavior. Police officers can then use it to observe the flagged individuals carefully without arresting them. The innovative model has data-driven and empirical approaches and requires both manual and digital resources. With the help of crime and behavioral analysts, review of police reports, comparison with past data and background of a person or neighborhood, predictive policing can assist in preventing crime before it occurs.