Crime and Punishment
"There are no co-incidences."
Josef Stalin
Shortly after Milwaukee County Deputy Sheriff Michael Schuh published an essay in his union newspaper critical of Sheriff David Clarke, Clarke transferred Schuh from bailiff duty to a unique new assignment: going door-to-door on the North Side. Unlike other deputies who work outside the Courthouse, Schuh would not have a squad-car available. According to Clarke, there is no connection between the criticism and Schuh's new assignment; unlike the late Kremlin leader, apparently Clarke does believe in co-incidence. ( Ten County Supervisors and the editorial page of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blasted Clarke for the transfer, apparently doubting the co-incidence theory.)
Other deputies are certain to get the message, especially since Clarke indicated that the foot-patrol program may be expanded to include more deputies. Since the original assignment, Clarke has given Schuh a partner.
The media have concentrated on the "pay-back" aspect of the Schuh transfer, but I would like to focus on the larger question of what should be done, by the Sheriff's Depatment and others, to reduce violent crime in Milwaukee.
Are foot-patrols the best and most efficient use of police manpower for this purpose?
Most major cities have virtually eliminated foot-patrols in favor of motorized officers, mainly to enable officers to respond to calls quickly and be able to pursue suspects who are escaping by car, motorcycle or even bicycle. If Schuh witnessed a drive-by shooting or hit-and-run accident, all he could do would be to call his dispatcher or the Milwaukee Police.
Is the Sheriff's idea of talking to people about crime a good way to elicit public co-operation with police?
Possibly, although the effect will be hard to evaluate. Even if chatting with residents about crime really is effective (which remains to be proven), the job could be done by civilians at lower cost than assigning it to highly-trained and well-paid deputy sheriffs. Is the Sheriff's Department so overstaffed that Clarke can spare two deputies for this experimental assignment?
Why are there so many shootings and other violent crimes in Milwaukee's slums?
Because these areas are home to a large number of teenage boys and young men who have no respect for rights or well-being of others, and consider every insult or slight to be grounds for a violent response. Their ability to get guns merely makes their rages and vendettas more lethal. Some shootings are due to robberies or disputes over drugs and the quest for market share, but most nowadays are motivated by personal grudges. The idea that personal feuds should be settled by an exchange of gunfire has a noble history in this country. (1)
Liberals claim that since poverty breeds crime, efforts to reduce poverty will ultimately reduce crime too. Is this true?
The Federal Government has made many serious efforts to reduce poverty since 1964. These programs have substantially reduced poverty. Although violent crime is declining now, it is still much worse than in 1964. According to economist Steven Levitt "economic growth .....has little or no effect on violent crime." (2)
During the past 40 years there has been a notable increase in dysfunctional and fatherless families, drug addiction, and a decline in personal moral standards. Therefore, perhaps without the anti-poverty programs the increase in crime would have been even worse.
Liberals also claim that gun-control will reduce gun violence. Are they right?
As noted in the March 15 Glazerbeam (Legal Weapon), a gun-control law strong enough to reduce gun-crime would require repeal of the Second Amendment, modification of the Fourth Amendment (which limits searches and seizures) and a massive intrusion into American homes by police. This is a price the American people will not pay for reduction in crime.
Existing gun-control laws do keep automatic weapons off our streets, but most murders are committed with cheap handguns anyway. Levitt found that the Brady Act and other gun-control measures have " proven to be practically impotent in lowering crime." (2)
Conservatives say that long, mandatory prison sentences reduce crime. Some would even bring back capital punishment to Wisconsin. Are they right?
Over two million Americans are in prison today, about seven times as many as in 1970 and five times as many as in 1980 (3). ( Much of the increase consists of drug-users, who have faced tough mandatory sentences.) Longer sentences reduce crime by keeping convicts off the streets longer, but at a high price. Accordingly to Levitt, higher rates of incarceration cut crime by about by about 13% during the 1990's (2).
Although some people clearly deserve capital punishment, executing them does not do much to deter others: Wisconsin's murder rate is actually lower than most states that have capital punishment. It is instructive that Ted Bundy, a former law student, traveled from his home in Seattle to kill several women in Texas and Florida, both of which have the death penalty and inflict it more than any other states. Bundy was executed in Florida.
Meanwhile, Gov. George Ryan of Illinois suspended executions after it was proved that several convicts on death row were innocent.
What is the appropriate role in law enforcement for the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department?
Patrol the freeways, keep order in the Courthouse, serve warrants, protect the parks and let the local police do their job. If Clarke comes up with a good plan for cutting crime in the City, the Milwaukee Police should implement it. If he develops a bad plan, no one should .
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(1)Dueling with pistols was an accepted method of avenging insults among the upper classes in pre-Civil War America. For example, former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was shot to death by Vice President Aaron Burr in a duel after Hamilton slandered Burr. Today, only men of the lowest class respond to insults with guns, and without the formal rules of duels.
(2) "Freakonomics" by Steven D Levitt and Steven J Dubner, Wm Morrow & Co., New York, 2005.
(3) "Police Powers" by Wm Stuntz in the New Republic, July 25, 2005.
Josef Stalin
Shortly after Milwaukee County Deputy Sheriff Michael Schuh published an essay in his union newspaper critical of Sheriff David Clarke, Clarke transferred Schuh from bailiff duty to a unique new assignment: going door-to-door on the North Side. Unlike other deputies who work outside the Courthouse, Schuh would not have a squad-car available. According to Clarke, there is no connection between the criticism and Schuh's new assignment; unlike the late Kremlin leader, apparently Clarke does believe in co-incidence. ( Ten County Supervisors and the editorial page of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blasted Clarke for the transfer, apparently doubting the co-incidence theory.)
Other deputies are certain to get the message, especially since Clarke indicated that the foot-patrol program may be expanded to include more deputies. Since the original assignment, Clarke has given Schuh a partner.
The media have concentrated on the "pay-back" aspect of the Schuh transfer, but I would like to focus on the larger question of what should be done, by the Sheriff's Depatment and others, to reduce violent crime in Milwaukee.
Are foot-patrols the best and most efficient use of police manpower for this purpose?
Most major cities have virtually eliminated foot-patrols in favor of motorized officers, mainly to enable officers to respond to calls quickly and be able to pursue suspects who are escaping by car, motorcycle or even bicycle. If Schuh witnessed a drive-by shooting or hit-and-run accident, all he could do would be to call his dispatcher or the Milwaukee Police.
Is the Sheriff's idea of talking to people about crime a good way to elicit public co-operation with police?
Possibly, although the effect will be hard to evaluate. Even if chatting with residents about crime really is effective (which remains to be proven), the job could be done by civilians at lower cost than assigning it to highly-trained and well-paid deputy sheriffs. Is the Sheriff's Department so overstaffed that Clarke can spare two deputies for this experimental assignment?
Why are there so many shootings and other violent crimes in Milwaukee's slums?
Because these areas are home to a large number of teenage boys and young men who have no respect for rights or well-being of others, and consider every insult or slight to be grounds for a violent response. Their ability to get guns merely makes their rages and vendettas more lethal. Some shootings are due to robberies or disputes over drugs and the quest for market share, but most nowadays are motivated by personal grudges. The idea that personal feuds should be settled by an exchange of gunfire has a noble history in this country. (1)
Liberals claim that since poverty breeds crime, efforts to reduce poverty will ultimately reduce crime too. Is this true?
The Federal Government has made many serious efforts to reduce poverty since 1964. These programs have substantially reduced poverty. Although violent crime is declining now, it is still much worse than in 1964. According to economist Steven Levitt "economic growth .....has little or no effect on violent crime." (2)
During the past 40 years there has been a notable increase in dysfunctional and fatherless families, drug addiction, and a decline in personal moral standards. Therefore, perhaps without the anti-poverty programs the increase in crime would have been even worse.
Liberals also claim that gun-control will reduce gun violence. Are they right?
As noted in the March 15 Glazerbeam (Legal Weapon), a gun-control law strong enough to reduce gun-crime would require repeal of the Second Amendment, modification of the Fourth Amendment (which limits searches and seizures) and a massive intrusion into American homes by police. This is a price the American people will not pay for reduction in crime.
Existing gun-control laws do keep automatic weapons off our streets, but most murders are committed with cheap handguns anyway. Levitt found that the Brady Act and other gun-control measures have " proven to be practically impotent in lowering crime." (2)
Conservatives say that long, mandatory prison sentences reduce crime. Some would even bring back capital punishment to Wisconsin. Are they right?
Over two million Americans are in prison today, about seven times as many as in 1970 and five times as many as in 1980 (3). ( Much of the increase consists of drug-users, who have faced tough mandatory sentences.) Longer sentences reduce crime by keeping convicts off the streets longer, but at a high price. Accordingly to Levitt, higher rates of incarceration cut crime by about by about 13% during the 1990's (2).
Although some people clearly deserve capital punishment, executing them does not do much to deter others: Wisconsin's murder rate is actually lower than most states that have capital punishment. It is instructive that Ted Bundy, a former law student, traveled from his home in Seattle to kill several women in Texas and Florida, both of which have the death penalty and inflict it more than any other states. Bundy was executed in Florida.
Meanwhile, Gov. George Ryan of Illinois suspended executions after it was proved that several convicts on death row were innocent.
What is the appropriate role in law enforcement for the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department?
Patrol the freeways, keep order in the Courthouse, serve warrants, protect the parks and let the local police do their job. If Clarke comes up with a good plan for cutting crime in the City, the Milwaukee Police should implement it. If he develops a bad plan, no one should .
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1)Dueling with pistols was an accepted method of avenging insults among the upper classes in pre-Civil War America. For example, former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was shot to death by Vice President Aaron Burr in a duel after Hamilton slandered Burr. Today, only men of the lowest class respond to insults with guns, and without the formal rules of duels.
(2) "Freakonomics" by Steven D Levitt and Steven J Dubner, Wm Morrow & Co., New York, 2005.
(3) "Police Powers" by Wm Stuntz in the New Republic, July 25, 2005.
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 11:05 AM
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