NOT DEFEATED

Stats Show Crime Down, Not Out

Still another report has confirmed that crime is down in the United States,
but no one should suppose that crime is licked, that the police can go home
now and that we can start shutting down the prisons.

This report comes from a 2001 government survey based on interviews with
victims and concerns all violent crime but murder. The year-to-year
decline: 9 percent.

As cheer-worthy as that news is, it should be kept in mind that crime today
remains several times higher than it was in the 1950s.

While some social scientists deny that the imprisonment of some 2 million
people has been the decisive factor in the recent reduction of crime, it
cannot be denied that it has been an important factor; when they are behind
bars, these prisoners - mostly young men - cannot maim and kill those outside.

Some changes in sentencing practices may well be due - especially for
nonviolent crimes - but no vast overhaul is due. Neither is it time for
police to let up on strategies they have developed over the years. The
tragedy of crime is immense in lives damaged, ruined and lost. Government
needs to do what it can to help.