Prevention Works

Breaking the Habit

A report released by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) earlier this month reveals that those with alcohol use disorder (AUD) aren’t actually getting treatment for it until around a decade after the onset of the problem. In the study, researchers found that only 24.1 percent of alcohol-dependent people said that they had sought any sort of treatment, which is a small percentage considering how broadly “treatment” was defined: seeing a physician or a therapist, going through a 12-step program, or going to an assistance center. How do you account for this so-called “lost decade” where AUD was left ignored and untreated?

Dr. Bridget Grant, principal investigator of an earlier study, the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, says, “An important first step toward closing the treatment-need gap would be an intensive program ... to educate the public and professionals about the signs and risks of alcohol dependence, to destigmatize the illness, and to promote understanding of the benefits of intervention.” That sounds sensible enough. It also seems to be good timing. Another highly publicized study found that around 10.1 million workers (8.8 percent of full-time U.S. workers are heavy alcohol drinkers. Are you a heavy alcohol drinker? If you find yourself drinking five or more drinks on one occasion, five or more times over 30 days, the answer is yes, according to the study’s definition of heavy drinking.

Alcohol abuse is all the more worrisome in this country because of underage drinking. Take for example, a recent University of Minnesota study, which found that about twice as many young men were likely to buy alcohol for underage youth when “shoulder-tapped” outside a liquor store. The NIAAA study found that the average age of onset of alcohol abuse was 21.9 years. Are people abusing alcohol the same year that they turn legal? That would be the sympathetic view. I find it hard to believe that an average of nine months after the big 2-1, people would all of a sudden turn into dangerous drinkers. More likely, they had already developed their habit as underage drinkers. They clearly got plenty of help along the way, too.

An Eternal Sentence for Juvenile Sex Offenders

You know how you can check your state’s sex offender registry to find the name, picture, address, and specific offense of any offenders in your area? So far, this list includes only adults. Now, scientists are reevaluating the teenage psyche and studying how close it is to the adult mind. Meanwhile, officials are debating the implications of listing child and teenage offenders on the Internet—perhaps even blacklisting them—for life.

Enough evidence exists that proves kids are not miniature adults. Kids don’t have innate knowledge of society, as evidenced by this letter to Dear Prudie, where a mother wonders how to deal with her daughter and niece, both four-year olds, whom she caught “rubbing our butts together.” Of course, juvenile sex offenders aren’t toddlers, and they generally know what they are doing is wrong. However, a number of things should be considered before we give them a de facto life sentence by listing them on the Internet along with violent, knowing, and malicious adults.

The most widely accepted theory (the “learning theory”) is that youth who were earlier abused tend to abuse other children, and they do so at higher rates than the general population. More recent studies find that any number of problems stemming from school or family life may trigger the behavior as well. So, while this doesn’t make sexual victimization okay, how do we treat or punish this behavior among juvenile sex offenders?

It’s a matter of opinion. Parents, armed with Megan’s Law, are anxious to see that all sex offenders, no matter what age, are publicly registered. This is the case in 25 states across the country, and it is, understandably, supported by those raising families. Someone like Johnnie, however, (who was referred to by that pseudonym in a New York Times article), may be branded for life. He’s a juvenile sex offender, but he did the crime when he was in fourth grade. That’s the question: would you give a now 14-year old the same “life sentence” that you give a grown man? And if the answer is yes, how would you draw the line between being a teen and being a responsible adult? Can we justify treating a juvenile sex offender as a minor and an adult simultaneously? Perhaps judges should be given discretion in each individual case.

More importantly, these situations need to be prevented in the first place. There aren’t conclusive studies that guarantee that this form of pedophilia can be permanently extinguished, but researchers are working on it. The New York Times article talks about a couple of different ways that therapists are dealing with these troubled youth. The offenders are asked to write out their fantasies in journals, talk them out, or even act them out in support group settings. The results are inconclusive still, because the phenomenon has been looked at only recently. However, we do know for sure that the stigma attached with being a known sex offender is harrowing for anyone, especially a teenager. As an earlier NCPC blog states, we need to ensure that offenders “make positive connections to the community.” How do we do that? We’re still working our way through that question.

National Night Out: Millions Strong and Counting

We are less than one month away from this year’s National Night Out (NNO) which will take place on August 7. The National Association of Town Watch developed NNO 24 years ago. Today it involves more than 10,000 communities and 34 million people across the United States and Canada. Citizens, neighborhood organizations, law enforcement agencies, civic groups, businesses, and local officials run such NNO events as block parties, cookouts, parades, flashlight walks, and youth programs. 

National Night Out was designed to involve local citizens in their own community’s safety. Bringing large groups of citizens together makes community members more aware of ways to prevent crimes and drug use, generates support for local anticrime programs, strengthens neighborhood spirit and the relationship between police and community members, and sends a message to criminals that the community is unified to fight crime. NNO events take place in the best and worst neighborhoods alike. Events are effective whether a neighborhood safety group (such as Neighborhood Watch) is already present or not.

Major cities across the country will have events in different neighborhoods throughout their jurisdictions. To find out where your local National Night Out event will be taking place, please visit the NNO Map. Washington, DC, home of the National Crime Prevention Council, will have its National Night Out Kick-off event at the Barry Farms Recreation Center in the Southeast part of the city. The DC kick-off will feature activities for kids, information for parents, and an appearance by McGruff the Crime Dog®. There will also be local events in other Washington neighborhoods and in the suburban counties of Northern Virginia and Maryland.

For information about how to get McGruff at your National Night Out celebration, please contact Jeff at mcgruffevents@ncpc.org.

Children: Unaware Victims

Imagine being in major debt before you can even vote. Such is the case for more than 400,000 children every year, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Although they account for only 5 percent of the total number of annual identity theft complaints, their number has climbed by 2 percent over the last two years. There may be even more child victims of identity theft since most parents don’t check their children’s credit histories. The Federal Trade Commission says that 61 percent of all identity thefts go unreported.

Since kids don’t have credit cards, mortgages, car payments, or anything else containing their personal information that could be shared with strangers, it might seem impossible for someone to steal their identity. However, what children do have is a Social Security number. If we’ve never met, never had the opportunity to see each other, and use email accounts, then it is feasible that I could use anyone’s number with a bogus name, address, and even age. Unfortunately, many credit issuers do not have the means to verify age.

Children are the ideal victims since it can be years before they or their parents realize the crime has been committed. Most only realize that they’ve been victimized later in life when they apply for their first credit card or a college loan, or undergo a credit check for their first apartment and are denied. Sometimes the perpetrators are estranged parents or relatives who have had previous access to vital information. The damage can take years to correct even if the victim is not liable.

There are seven simple steps you can take to keep your child’s identity safe: (1) Only disclose information if you know how it will be used; (2) shred any documents that bear his or her Social Security number; (3) ask your bank to require a photo ID and password for information; (4) get an annual credit report for your child; (5) check for credit card offerings made in your child’s name with the three major credit bureaus; (6) check for an earnings report in your child’s name from the Social Security Administration; and (7) always file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission if something is wrong.

It’s a sad commentary of the times we live in that someone would steal the identity of a kid. Fortunately, by being careful, we can minimize the problems that those who have no respect for our values—or the law—might cause.

Disturbing Study: Kids at Greater Risk

A study by the U.S. government of inmates convicted of either the possession or distribution of child pornography found some very disturbing results, judging by a recent New York Times article.  The study itself has not been released yet, and its fate actually seems uncertain, given the highly sensitive nature of the study, and the possible reactions to the study’s conclusions by the public and the media. But what it alleges is that the percentage of inmates convicted of child pornography charges who have actually molested children as well could be about 85 percent.  Earlier studies have placed the figure closer to 30 or 40 percent. 

The implications here are daunting, and hint that many of society’s child pornography offenders could, in fact, also be child molesters who have simply not been caught.  In the past, the pattern of child pornography offenders has seemed disjointed and unconnected, including such pillars of the community as politicians, police officers, and teachers.  But the new research could change the way people view these offenders, and also lead to stiffer sentences for those convicted.  However, some experts do not believe that it is wise to generalize the observations of such a small group of test cases (the study reported on by the Times interviewed 155 inmates). 

Still, I’m inclined to believe that any research in this area could be helpful in the need to understand sexual predators and child molesters better.  Understanding the relationship between child pornography and child molestation is crucial to developing any sort of treatment for these offenders.  In the past, at least some child molesters have admitted that images of child pornography have fueled their desires to act out their fantasies and have helped compel them to act on their criminal impulses.  Most experts seem to agree that such studies should be continued and made public, sooner rather than later.  In the Times article, Dr. Peter Collins, who leads the Forensic Psychology Unit of the Ontario Provincial Police, said of these latest findings, “We’re really on the cusp of learning more about these individuals and the studies should be encouraged, not quashed.”

Yours Truly, Sir Dunk N. Donut

My last blog entry discussed how the people you hand your credit card to may be recording your private information and selling it. Now, add oblivious and apathetic clerks to your list of people to be on the lookout for, in addition to scheming waiters.

On my web crawl, I came across John Hargrave, a humorist on Zug.com, who tried really hard to get caught committing fraud. He signed everything but his own name on the line at the bottom of his credit card receipts: Mariah Carey, Beethoven, Lassie, Zeus. He used hieroglyphics, stick figures, and a matrix. He also walked into a Krispee Kreme store, bought some artery-strangling pastries, signed his name as “Dunk N. Donut”—a blasphemous move in context—and, while the cashier was looking, took pictures of the receipt and the store.  Apparently that didn’t raise any alarms, so he kept going and going: he segmented the experiment in five parts, and there’s a sequel, too!

It’s sort of disheartening that the safety of your money and your identity may potentially be in the hands of a finger-rapping, pimply 16-year old cashier. But for now, I suspect that our credit card companies are spending more on ad campaigns telling us that they’re keeping us safe rather than walking their pompous talk. It’s inflammatory! So be your own watchdog, because no one’s going to watch out for you better than you will.     

Heading back to the restaurant scene, what if you see your full credit card number on the receipt itself? That’s not good. Since 2005, it has been federal law that “only the last five digits of the card account number can be printed on electronically printed receipts provided to the customer.” According to this amalgamation of state laws on the National Conference of State Legislatures website, most states (in varying degrees) have consequences for printing out the whole number. Your number should be mostly X’s, and it should raise red flags if it’s not.

What if your card does end up being compromised? Well, you should know that credit and debit cards are not considered equal before the law, so you deal with each in a different way. With the Truth in Lending Act, the most your liability will account to is $50 for fraudulent charges on a credit card. Most banks waive even that. Keep an even closer watch on your debit card, though. They are subject to the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. You’d have to know and act with regard to any fraudulent charges within two days. If you do something about it before the 60-day mark, your liability is limited to $500, but after that, you could lose everything.

They don’t call it the Age of Information for no reason: danger lurks everywhere. So arm yourself with this information and slip it along to your friends. Fight back!

Offenders Pay Back the Planet

As incarceration rates continue to rise, states are struggling to provide enough beds for those behind bars, and legislators increasingly are looking at other ways to free up space and save money. Several states have begun to focus on developing community-based programs that deal with low-level, nonviolent offenders without locking them up. We recently highlighted efforts states are making to find alternatives to building more prisons in this blog.

Rather than building new prisons, some states are looking at ways to control recidivism with programs that help newly released people find jobs, housing, drug treatment and mental health care.

Texas, for example, which was facing a projected increase in the prison population and a projected expenditure of more than a billion dollars to build several new prisons, has approved a plan that will make several changes to its correction policy. The prison population surge in Texas was not being driven by crime, which had risen only slightly, but by a breakdown in the parole and probation systems, which were unable to process and supervise the increasing number of released prisoners. The Texas Legislature projected that it could potentially avoid the need for any new prisons by expanding mental health and drug treatment services, along with other community-based programs.

Alternative sentencing is another option to control our ever-increasing prison population.

One of the most interesting prison alternative programs I’ve heard of recently is one launched in the United Kingdom in June, called “Planet Payback.”  Although community service with an environmental twist is not new, the “Planet Payback” initiative is an option available to sentencing judges.  Under sentencing guidelines that apply to this initiative, offenders can be sentenced by the courts to perform up to 300 hours of unpaid work for the benefit of the community. The U.K. National Probation Service works with voluntary community groups and local authorities involved with environmental activities to suggest areas where community payback projects can be implemented. According to U.K. Justice Minister Gerry Sutcliffe, environmental community service has been remarkably effective at reducing recidivism rates.  He has been quoted as saying that although the predicted likelihood for those participating in such programs to commit more crimes had been 43.5 percent, the actual rate has been significantly lower at 37.9 percent. 

As someone who has been alarmed by all the recent reports on how we are slowly destroying our planet, I find that environmental conservation that also serves as a form of restorative justice a fantastic idea. As Mr. Sutcliffe said when launching the “Planet Payback” initiative, "… we are here today, creating this drive for offenders to take that step and think of our planet before themselves.”

Driving a Stake Through the Community

With Congress having failed to resolve the country’s simmering immigration issues, local governments are taking the situation into their own hands.  Some cities and states have begun to make it policy to check the status of anyone they believe is in this country illegally.

One of the issues surrounding law enforcement and the illegal immigrant population is the lack of communication between the two parties.  Sometimes this is because of a language barrier, but more often is has to do with a fear of deportation.  Someone who is undocumented may not report being a victim of a crime or a witness to a crime if they fear their lack of legal status will land them in trouble.  As a result, there are more criminals on the streets and crimes go unsolved.  If local governments start making it policy for police officers to check document status it will only increase the lack of communication between law enforcement and the immigrant population. 

In Tulsa, OK, where this practice has been enacted, police officers are voicing concerns that it will create unnecessary work for them and will ultimately hurt their ability to prevent or respond to crimes. Tulsa Police Officer Mark Wollmerhauser, who has been an officer for 30 years, speaks about instances where illegal immigrants may not call the police after a crime has been committed.  He says, “They will not call us; it will drive a stake through the community in terms of crime prevention.” 

This also poses the question of racial profiling.  Under what circumstances is a police officer required to confirm documents status?  Is it the color of someone’s skin, their accent, the car they drive, the neighborhood they are found in, the people they are associating with? As a Mexican American born and raised in the United States, I definitely find this practice troubling.  If I were to be pulled over, would I be questioned?  Would I have to prove that I am a United States citizen?  What are the factors that the police use in deciding whether to check someone’s status, or is everyone who encounters a police officer asked to prove that they are in the United States legally? 

In the Washington, DC, area, Prince William County lawmakers approved a measure this week that requires officers to check the residency status of anyone who is detained if there is probable cause to believe that the person is in this country illegally. However, Charlie Dean, the county police chief, believes this will only increase racism if it is not handled carefully and with full understanding of what this resolution means. 

I believe that there needs to be some sort of solution to the overwhelming immigration issues we face.  I understand the frustrations of local jurisdictions. But I also believe that there is no easy answer.  I think that if these issues are left to local law enforcement, we will see more crime, more unreported crime, worsened communication between the immigrant population and our local law enforcement agencies, and further stress on our already overextended law enforcement resources.

The Murderous Metal

A persistent scientific theory that suggests that crime rates are directly associated with exposure to lead is gaining some new attention.  The Washington Post recently published an article explaining the theory, citing work by economist Rick Nevin that “has shown an identical, decades-long association between lead poisoning and crime rates in nine countries.”  Nevin is quoted as explaining that children throughout most of the 20th century have been exposed to rather high levels of lead, and that poisoning from the metal manifests itself in adolescence as delinquent behavior and often develops into criminal behavior later in life.  He insists that exposure to lead is the largest factor in the determination of international crime trends, although he recognizes that other factors contribute to criminal behavior as well. 

The theory that lead poisoning in the early years can cause criminal behavior years later has been around for some time.  In 2000, the University of Pittsburgh Medical center published research that stated that “children exposed to lead have significantly greater odds of developing delinquent behavior.”  The study showed that delinquent youths had much higher levels of lead in their bodies than their non-troublemaking counterparts, and that the results showed no difference between races and genders.

“There is a strong literature on lead and sociopathic behavior among adolescents and young adults with a previous history of lead exposure,” Ellen Silbergeld, professor of environmental health sciences at Johns Hopkins University and the editor of Environmental Research, was quoted as saying in the Washington Post article.  And it does seem that there is an identifiable relationship between occurrences of lead poisoning throughout U.S. history and peaks in our country’s crime rate. 

I think this research deserves more attention from scientists and policymakers alike.  To reduce lead poisoning, and, according to this research, quite possibly reduce crime in the United States, we should dismantle old construction projects that used lead-based paint.  But since the serious health risks surrounding the use of lead are already so widely recognized, we should be doing this anyway.  I hope that the new attention to this research, along with the notion that crime could be reduced if we reduce cases of lead poisoning, will make the issue of preventing lead exposure more of a priority in our society.

Skimming the Bad Guys

Just when it’s time for happy hour, you get news like this. Greg Bluestein wrote in a July 6 article on Yahoo News that when you hand over your credit card to the waiter at a restaurant, you might be victimized in a “skimming” scam where the waiter secretly records your card information and then sells it. Whoa, what?

Skimmers are small gadgets, about the size of a deck of cards or even smaller, which record sensitive information from the magnetic stripe of a credit card when swiped. Later, all the information can be stored in a computer. What’s more, you can buy a skimmer on the Internet. Dishonest employees have used skimmers at countless establishments, including Sam’s Club, gas stations and restaurants. Some people have even been scammed at ATM machines, where the thief has placed a skimmer over the original card slot.

According to Bluestein’s article, “Some studies suggest as much as 70 percent of all cases of credit card skimming stem from restaurant scams.” So while you shouldn’t stop going out to eat, you wouldn’t be paranoid to worry about using your credit card. Should you start growing your own groceries in your back yard, hermitically seal yourself off in a cave, never to dine at Olive Garden again? No, because you can do something about it and also because it’s hard to grow your own Cheez-Its. First off, know that capitalism is on your side this time around: Verifone and Hypercom, two companies that sell pay-at-the-table systems, are making strides in safeguarding America’s restaurant industry. These devices read the pattern of dots on your credit card’s magnetic strip and allow you to hold on to your card the whole time. They are already fairly widespread in Europe and Asia. Stateside, we can check out our own groceries at the supermarket and our carts at Target, so it’s just a matter of time before these devices catch on here. Also, do the things you’re supposed to do anyway. Keep a close watch on your credit and debit accounts, and be sure to shred old receipts and bills that may have your number on them.

Keep your wits about you, and don’t let anyone leave a bad taste in your mouth!