Prevention Works

Rapid Access to Crime Reports

How long does it take a police officer or sheriff’s deputy to put in his or her paperwork after working a 12-hour shift? Most say it could take two or three days to sort through all the forms. How much easier would it be if the law enforcement officer could just log all the information into a database?

There have been crime databases for years, but recently the San Diego Sheriff’s Department worked with Motorola and Microsoft to develop a system that creates a “bigger, smarter picture of what’s happening and where it’s happening,” said Lieutenant  Kirby Beyer, the program leader, who was quoted in the San Diego Union Tribune. This system allows law enforcement officers to file crime reports in hours rather than days. It makes it easier to identify crime trends and serial criminals, facilitates the tracking of sex offenders and documented gang members, and makes it easier to serve warrants, restraining orders, and more.

The database makes it possible to do everything digitally. An officer can attach videos, pictures, and sound files to make it easier for other officers, even in other jurisdictions, to seek out information about a criminal or sex offender. The databases’ ability to track crime trends assists police in distribution of resources and ultimately prevents crimes by better deploying officers. These files can be sent digitally to the district attorney’s office or probation office for their use also. There will even be tests of a mobile version in the coming months.

This new Motorola system will link to the Automated Regional Justice Information Center (ARJIS), so information logged into the San Diego Sheriff’s Office database is automatically uploaded into the regional system. The database will strengthen relationships between agencies. It gives other jurisdictions access to the database so that they can link cases and track activity of repeat offenders.

Criminals are known to move from city to city to escape arrest; often they are committing more crimes while they’re at it. Therefore, the next step should be to link regional databases to create a national database. That way, the database could help law enforcement across the country track the criminals and stand a better chance of catching them before they commit more crimes. Ultimately, a national database could prevent crime by tracking the movements of repeat offenders throughout the United States.

Community Corrections

Since I began blogging about crime prevention, I have been fascinated by alternative sentencing plans, such as restorative justice or shaming. I do not think that we have found a perfect punishment for crime in incarceration, and I do believe that for some crimes, alternatives may prove to be more efficient (both in preventing recidivism and in simply costing less). So, you can probably imagine my excitement when I saw Doug Berman’s link to a new paper on the Social Science Research Network that brings to together “the now extensive literature on the varied arenas in which restorative justice is theorized and practiced.”

The paper, Restorative Justice: What Is It and Does It Work by Carrie Menkel-Meadow, is excellent in its breadth. Although I generally talk about shaming when I talk about restorative justice, Menkel-Meadow catalogs many forms of “restorative justice,” which she claims “is the name given to a variety of different practices, including apologies, restitution, and acknowledgements of harm and injury, as well as to other efforts to provide healing and reintegration of offenders into their communities.” She also catalogs many of the known uses of restorative justice, from apologies for petty theft to public narrations of genocide. Finally, and perhaps most valuably, Menkel-Meadow covers the promises, challenges, and results of restorative justice. Although the paper is certainly not a quick read, it’s worthwhile if you are interested in corrections, incarceration, and alternatives.

Restorative justice is interesting to me for several reasons, which the report has made it much easier to articulate. The goals seem to coincide with the goals of prevention—in a restorative justice program, the community is involved—restorative justice proceedings generally involve many of those affected by the crime, and everyone has a voice. The wrongdoer is punished, but the punishment keeps an eye on reintegration. Furthermore, the process is generally personalized, using expert guidance to target the process to the crime and the victim. Additionally, the focus is generally not on punishment, but instead on preventing future wrongs. Victims, too, in theory get a better shake; restorative justice looks to make them whole by allowing them to tell their story, find out from the offender why the crime occurred, receive an apology, and take part in the decision about punishment. In theory, it sounds wonderful, and its advocates claim that it reduces recidivism rates, which is a form of prevention, to me.

However, I  try to be a rational skeptic. Reading the article, I was happy to see that “[t]he greatest claims for restorative justice … that it creates greater compliance with agreements or judgments, reduces imprisonment (and therefore costs to the system), provides greater satisfaction for both victims and offenders, and reduces recidivism—have all been substantiated in a variety of different studies.” However, reading further, the article claims that, in longer studies, “recidivism rates move closer together for restorative and convention criminal justice participants.” Additionally, I worry that any nonstandardized process, when given over to widespread practice, could feed on people’s innate desire for retribution instead of serving justice. In the end, the report has raised bigger questions for me than it answers. I look forward to more research, and I hope that my fears are not confirmed.

Courtrooms Play Host to the War on Gangs

Deadly shootings and drug dealing are just two of the problems that gangs bring to our cities, and local officials are looking for new ways to confront the gang problem. In some locales, law enforcement has decided to take the battle into a new field, the courtroom, by filing lawsuits against gang members in an attempt to stop their criminal activity.  Now, when an individual is picked up for a crime and identified as being affiliated with a gang, officials are attempting to file lawsuits that bar that person from standing in a certain area or even sitting in his or her car in an area that is associated with gang activity.

A Seattle Times article highlighted two cities that are in the forefront of this approach: Fort Worth, TX, and San Francisco, CA.  Both cities have filed lawsuits against gang members that request that the courts prohibit such things as congregating together on street corners and cars in certain areas.  The idea behind barring these activities is to stop the escalation of crime that often occurs when gang members congregate.  Additionally, this would allow police a legal reason to stop and question gang members.

Preventative approaches such as this are not new.  According to the article, similar lawsuits were first filed in the 1980s against the Playboy Gangster Crips, and covered the entire city of Los Angeles.  Since then however, cities have limited their lawsuits to specific gangs or gang members.  This appears not only to have reduced crime, but also to have reduced opposition to the lawsuits. 

Although, this approach may appear proactive in nature, the legal community must be aware of its possible ramifications. 

For instance, how will individuals be targeted?  Essentially, congregating in cars or in public areas is an otherwise lawful activity.  How will police distinguish between innocent youth who are just “hanging out” and those who are gathering for law-breaking purposes?  The new approach could potentially and unfairly target some youth and trample on their rights.  Furthermore, if injunctions like these are put in place, what would stop some gang members from simply moving their activities outside the covered zone?  If the life of a gang member involves maneuvering around the law, I would presume that civil injunctions would not deter many from continuing their gang lifestyles. 

Although this approach is a great start, perhaps future approaches would do well to take it a bit further.  However efficient and effectively youth continue to be incarcerated, such punishment may ultimately serve no lasting effect.  I believe that the answer lies in more than just taking the “problem” off public streets and leaving gang members to fester in jail. Instead, we must design programs that specifically offer gang members the means to pursue an alternative lifestyle and ensure that these programs are supported by the community and local school system.  These programs should address the very root causes that often lead youth to join gangs such as lack of familial support and social and academic development.  The belief that “there is no other lifestyle” is often heard from many of those involved in gangs. It is up to the community and legal system to show them that there is.

Violence Behind Dog Fighting Does Not End in the Pit

I grew up learning how to respect, love, and care for all types of animals and, as an adult, I have put this to use volunteering with animal rescue groups. As such, I was heartbroken to hear about Michael Vick and the alleged dog fighting ring (PDF) that has been in the headlines. Unfortunately, even though dog fighting is illegal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and even though the federal Animal Welfare Act prohibits the interstate transportation of dogs for fighting purposes, dog fights still take place every day. As horrendous as dog fighting is, it is only one type of intentional cruelty aimed at animals, which is defined as knowingly depriving an animal of essential needs or maliciously torturing, maiming, mutilating, or killing an animal. And each state handles cases differently.

I have animals that live with me and I’m not alone. Three-fourths of households in the United States with school-age children have at least one household pet. Why do people abuse these companions that we knowingly bring into our lives, let into our homes, and open our hearts to? Control.

Animal abuse or cruelty is motivated by feelings similar to those underlying domestic violence and bullying. Abusers learn that by hurting animals, they can also manipulate other people in their lives who don’t want to see the animals suffer. Also by seeing the animal suffer, family members realize the abuser could just as easily turn on them and consequently fear for their own lives too. In fact, studies have shown that 85 percent of battered women in shelters also report their abuser turning against the family pets.

But this study only looks at the people who have sought help. There are people who won’t leave the abuser because they are scared that the abuser will take action against their animals. “Colleen” did separate from her boyfriend, who had hit her, and in turn he retaliated by drowning Rumney, her border collie. The Humane Society of the United States created a program called Safe Havens for Animals™  that provides temporary boarding and care for the victims’ pets. Veterinarians are also working with their local law enforcement on suspected animal abuse cases.

You too can help by starting an animal watch in your neighborhood. Like Neighborhood Watch, it involves neighbors helping neighbors. You can do this by:

• Knowing your neighborhood’s pets
• Paying attention to abuse, neglect, and abandonment
• Watching for pets in parked cars, especially during the heat of summer and the cold of winter
• Remembering that wild creatures such as squirrels and birds are also susceptible to abuse
• Creating a neighborhood dog park
• Working with local law enforcement, animal shelters, and other groups

If you’re interested in learning more or starting an animal watch, visit First Strike.

We can decrease the number of both animals and people who are put through this senseless suffering by working together with veterinarians, individuals, neighbors, law enforcement, animal control and others. Children should be taught at a young age not just to respect others, but to value life overall, whether it be a person, dog, guinea pig, bird or any other animal. And you can start today by adopting a companion.

To give a dog, cat, or other companion animal a second chance, visit your local shelter or animal rescue group or go to www.petfinder.com where you can search near you for your new friend.

I’ve seen the quote, "In a perfect world, every dog would have a home and every home would have a dog." I’d like to change that to say, "In a perfect world, every dog would have a good home and every home would have a dog," because just having a home isn’t enough.

Special thanks to my companions, Gracie, King, and Kona, for their inspiration.

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!

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!

"That's Going on Facebook!"

The Pew Research Center announced the results of a survey on June 27th that found that one-third of teens who use the Internet have been targets of harassment. What is harassment, exactly? The study defined it as "annoying and potentially menacing online activities." And how exactly do you define that? According to one of the survey questions, this would include (out of a total of five questions): "Someone taking a private email, IM or text message you sent them and forwarding it to someone else or posting it where others could see it." It turns out that 15 percent of respondents said that this has happened to them. But is this really harassment? And if it is, what does it say about the teenage concept of personal boundaries on the permanent landscape of the Internet?

It’s a thin line. The concept of privacy is being painfully reworked by young people experiencing a collectively awkward puberty along with the web. Young people seek to immortalize funny things, interesting things, dumb things, any and all things on the Internet. Don’t believe me? Check out this online quote list that someone at my high school started. It got bigger and bigger as people started sending in funny quotes that were said in class. It’s hilarious, a little embarrassing, but definitely benign. (We’re still not sure who started it, but I have my suspects.) Where does it fall on the privacy line? To post a quote from real life on a site is no better and no worse than posting a private IM.

So this particular question in the survey, which also accounted for the largest chunk of "harassment," may therefore actually be blown out of proportion because it didn’t ask if this behavior was hurtful or malicious. True, it could be "potentially malicious," but anything posted about us can fall under that category, and kids are learning to expect and differentiate among the mucky things they encounter.  Between MySpace, emails, and real life interactions, privacy is a wholly different entity for kids today, and I think they intuitively understand this.

Or maybe not. Cyberbullying, in part, led young Ryan Halligan to suicide. Kylie Kenney had to switch schools when other kids in school started a website entitled, "Kill Kylie Kenney." Despite these harrowing stories, school officials and local police continue to have a hard time protecting young people because of the anonymity of Internet bullies. An Epoch Times article cites Police Chief Darrel Stevens as saying, "It is a problem that is emerging…laws have not caught up with this type of bullying in most parts of America." In other words, cyberbullying is here to stay. At least for now.

How can you prevent cyberbullying? It’s certainly tough for kids, because cyberbullying is often an extension of what goes on at school. The organization, Fight Crime, has a 10-step list to preventing cyberbullying that stresses parental involvement. Parents need to notice their child’s changing behavior and attitude toward school. If your child is being bullied, tell her not to respond and to save any aggressive messages. This can be used as evidence in the event that things really get out of hand. Also check out NCPC’s resources on cyberbullying and how parents should deal with it. What if your kid is the bully? Sit her down and show her the Wayback Machine. It’s a web crawler that has recorded everything on the Internet ever. Remind her that everything you do over the Internet can ultimately be traced right back. Once that’s done, the authorities will get involved and it’ll get messy. Privacy—it goes both ways.

It’s Not Just Us

It’s no secret that crime is on the rise in the United States. We’ve closely followed domestic crime statistics on this blog since its inception, and as violent crime has risen over the past year, we’ve noted it and promoted prevention techniques to help keep your family and community safe. Crime isn’t just up in the United States, though; according to a recent article in Foreign Policy by Moisés Naím, “[c]rime has increased steadily for all the countries the United Nations measures.” The global nature of this problem can help shed light on our crime increase, and it also shows that the need for prevention is greater than ever.

Foreign Policy’s article offers a valuable international perspective on crime and several insights into the global crime problem. Naím immediately puts this problem in perspective with other pressing issues, such as the bird flu epidemic and war. Interestingly, both pale in lethality compared to crime; bird flu has claimed less than 200 lives, and “[p]ost-card perfect Rio de Janeiro, for example, has become more dangerous than the bullet-riddled Gaza Strip.” Additionally, Naím notes that several common explanations of crime — poverty, weak religious institutions — simply do not reliably correlate with crime. Instead, Naím notes that “[r]easearchers can agree upon little beyond the general notion that crime soars in places where there is a combination of a high percentage of young males, ample drugs, and easy access to guns.”

For U.S. citizens, the global statistics help serve as yet another call to action. Crime is going up worldwide, not just in select U.S. cities. It’s not going to get better unless citizens work together to keep themselves, their families, and their communities safe from crime. This means teaching your family to stay safe and mobilizing your community to prevent crime. It also means trying to form partnerships with other communities like your own. If you have a particular crime problem in your community, write a comment on this blog and see if others may be facing the same problems. If your neighborhood has the characteristics of a place with serious crime problems, consider some of our strategies for reducing drug use and availability, reducing violence and guns, and getting young people involved in your community.