Dr Crime June 2017

Dr. Crime is a pseudonym for a social scientist holding a Ph.D. degree in sociology and in criminology. He has worked in all major parts of the criminal justice system. Drop him a note at the website www.keepkidshome.net if you or your child is in trouble, he may be able to help, give him a call (252-339-0000).

Dear Dr. Crime: Our NC Legislature may change our law about juvenile or adult court for bad kids. I say kick their something so they will learn that pain follows bad behavior. Putting bad kids in juvenile court won’t protect me and will cost us more tax money. Please tell our legislators to back off the “Raise the Age” bill. Upset Taxpayer

Dear Taxing: By now the NC General Assembly will have decided this, but the issue of punitive vs. behavior change policy remains. This is a perfect example of my argument that we should decide what we want to accomplish and follow the objective, empirical research by those wonderful criminologists. Here the outcome is to produce fewer victims in the future, reduce the harm to everyone involved, hold down costs, and impact the kid so he/she can make it a better world. Giving him/her what they deserve is not a social outcome we should allow to, alone, determine judicial policy. I get as mad as you but let’s use research, not emotion, guide us.

Some of the empirical basis of my argument follows. The US Dept. of Justiceⁱ, using large cities from 1994-2000, studied changes in policing, adult incarceration, juvenile detention, and waivers of juveniles to adult court for the impact on reduced juvenile violence. They reported little or no evidence of beneficial effects from incarceration of juveniles with adults, the detention of juveniles, and waivers of juveniles to adult court. If our NC law passes, how much will we spend on juvenile cases changed to adult cases if as juvenile cases such future cases might be prevented? Just months ago a studyⁱⁱ reported national estimates of judicial services as follows: (in 2010 dollars, for single crimes) $22,000–$44,000 (homicide), $2000–$5000 (rape and sexual assault), $600–$1300 (robbery), $800–$2100 (aggravated assault), $200–$600 (burglary), $300–$600 (larceny/theft), and $200–$400 (motor vehicle theft). These figures do not include all the other costs! The US Dept. of Justiceⁱⁱⁱ studied the consequences of youth being victims of such crimes and found the impact of such crimes carries into adulthood and causes adult behaviors that are tragic and costly. Such outcomes include the victim becoming a criminal, using drugs, having mental health problems. How often do they reoffend if sentenced as an adult? Sentencing Partners^iv, a private law firm, reported on a large number of federal offenders and found that in the highest criminal history status 80% committed more crimes, usually within 2 years of release from prison or probation. Does this matter? Economists^v, over a decade ago, found the overall crime cost to our nation to be more than one Trillion dollars a year (in 1999 bucks that is + $ 1,000,000,000,000, which could give us a great tax break!) If my logic is wrong, that everyone is better off in terms of life events if we prevent crimes rather than get our retribution, write to me and explain your logic.

Dear Dr. Crime: Is it true that crime rates for females is lower than the same rate for men? If that is true it is because we women are better people than men!!! Smart Administrator.

Dear Administrator:

The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)^vi gives data showing the differential offending and differential selection by police of females in official arrest statistics. The probability of arrest for females was: (1) 28 percent lower for kidnapping; (2) 48 percent lower for forcible fondling; (3) 9 percent lower for simple assault; and (4) 27 percent lower for intimidation than males. The report assigns some of the explanation to police norms about women, but it remains a clear difference. I have made a note to research the relative goodness of humans by gender and will report back to you another time.

Dear Dr. Crime: How do I find an attorney to help me? Messed up fellow

Dear Mess: There are several honest ways. One is the NC State Bar Association. Go to https://www.ncbar.gov/ . Another is the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). Go to https://www.nacdl.org/. If your issue is a criminal matter for which you have been arrested, I recommend the (NACDL). Or you can get in contact with me and I will refer you to an attorney I know. My most important advice is to get your attorney as soon as possible.

Dear Dr. Crime: What do I do if I see a crime in process? Citizen

Dear Citizen: Call 911 on your phone and hang around to give information to the police.

i NCJ 249261. Office of Inspector General. 2015. Audit of the Office of Justice Programs Adult and Juvenile Offender Re-Entry and Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Grants Awarded to Beaver County, Pennsylvania

ii Hunt, Priscillia; Anderson, James; Saunders, Jessica. 2016. The price of justice: New national and state-level estimates of the judicial and legal costs of crime to taxpayers. American Journal of Criminal Justice, Aug 20 . doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12103-016-9362-6.

iii Menard, Scott . 2002. Short- and Long-Term Consequences of Adolescent Victimization . Youth Violence Bulletin; Feb 2002; 1-16 [US Department of Justice (DOJ)].doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/e318082004-001.

iv Sentencing Partners. 2016. Joaquin and Duncan, L.L.C., Texas, USA.

v David A. Anderson 1999. The Aggregate Burden of Crime The Journal of Law and Economics, vol. 42 (October 1999).

vi Lisa Stolzenberg ; Stewart J. D'Alessio. 2004. Sex Differences in the Likelihood of Arrest. Journal of Criminal Justice Volume:32 Issue:5 Dated:September/October 2004 Pages:443 to 454 NCJ 207251