Do you think that more police on the streets will reduce crime in the United States?

Answer 1

I doubt it.

We have a ton of cops on my city and they don't spend much time in the crime-ridden parts of town.

You'll hear about 3 shootings and a robbery, but the police spend most of their day watching traffic (revenue) and harassing suburban kids for smoking and skateboarding.


To be technical and cynical, you can also argue that 'crime' is a political statistic defined by the number of arrests and convictions. In that sense, the more police you have, the more individuals are arrested (even when the same amount of criminal activity occurs) and the statistic shows that crime increases.

Prevention is a completely different animal than enforcement. The police have no authority until a crime has already been committed - and for good reason.

Answer 2

No, i don't think increasing the police force will help to reduce crime. We need to
start with the root cause why there is so much crime. I.E. a lot of criminals are mentally ill, a lot of parents that could not afford to stay home or could not afford for after school programs, Growing up in abusive homes, the job market, high living cost etc...... all these play a factor in creating crimes and need to be dealt with. Help with childcare, education, medical care etc.... this is just scraping the surface of some of the problems that lead to high crime rates. It all starts in childhood and the way we grow up and what we are influenced by.

Answer 3

No. While their presence may prevent an individual from committing a crime in that area, that same individual will probably commit a crime in some other area; possibly at a different time. It is impossible to police every square mile all the time without imposing Marshall Law. And nobody wants that!

In order to really reduce crime there must be a radical change in the human heart.

Answer 4

Police are very seldom in a position to prevent a crime. More often they are left to investigate the crime after the fact and to attempt to apprehend the perp before comits another crime. More officers on the streets create a visible deterent to some degree, but make little actual impact on preventing crime. What does work is arming the public. In localities where laws have been enacted to make it easier for people to purchase and employ weapons in their own defense, there have been significant decreases in crime. In localities where gun ownership is strictly controlled or banned (such as the District of Columbia) crime is out of control. As is often said, an armed society is a polite society. Look up the stats if you doubt this.

Answer 5

No it will not. This has actually been proved. I can not think of the year but in Kansas City, they took 3 beats. In one beat they kept the police presence the same, in another they decreased the patrols, and in the third added the patrols from the second. The results were shocking. There was no noticable decrease or increase in crime. To find out more google the Kansas City police experiment.

Answer 6

I think we ought to fund a "Corporate Crime" Police to patrol office buildings and Banks, and stock floors, on the look out for embezzlers, frauds, insider traders, tax evaders, hostile takeover bidders, etc..
Corporate Crime costs the Taxpayers and society way more than Street Crime.

Answer 7

About as much as more firemen will prevent fires.

What would reduce crime is improving the swiftness and certainty of punishment. That's not what the police do, that's all up to the courts.

Answer 8

There are many factors regarding crime reduction, but I think the studies show that a greater police presence results in less crime.

Answer 9

Yes. But those police need to follow the laws regarding search and suspect's rights etc..

If they do not, it will make no difference because the evidence will be thrown out of court since the suspect's rights were violated.

If the cops follow the laws the we will put more criminals in jail because the will not get out on a technicality. Each time a criminal gets off on a technicality it is usually because a cop messed up!

Answer 10

I like the fireman answer, sorta. Cops do not prevent crimes, cops generate revenue so the power structure of law enforcement can be enlarged. More cops, more revenue, more revenue, more cops.

Econ 101