Kurilko 1

Dustin Kurilko
ENGL 1001
Mr. Dorhout
July 29, 2018

Crime Reduction

Crime has been a societal drain throughout the history of mankind. Criminologists for

centuries have conducted countless studies and have conducted endless research to explain what

compels an individual to enage in criminal activity. Local, state, and federal governments have

spent billions of dollars in efforts to reduce crime and rely on research from these criminologists.

To begin discussing effective measures in combating the most prevalent crime, such as property

crimes and drug-related crimes, the reasoning and incentives for offenders engaging in criminal

activity must first be explored. In 1986, criminologists Derek Cornish and Ronald Clarke

designed a method known as Rational Choice Theory to assist law enforcement in situational

crime prevention. These methods have been adopted by local, state and federal law enforcement

agencies in their efforts to reduce violent crimes as well as drug-related crimes.

The Rational Choice Theory explains human behavior as it relates to crime and states that

all persons make rational decisions. This theory on crime was originally devised by a

criminologist from the 18th century by the name of Cesare Beccaria. His theory, known as the

Classical Theory of Rational Choice, describes the average person in a society as one who

calculates the risks versus the rewards before their decision to engage in or to avoid criminal

activity (Rafter and Brown 15). Beccaria shifted his research and attention toward deterrence. If

one weighs the cost and benefits of crime prior to committing crimes, then the costs must be

increased to deter a potential criminal. Beccaria argued that deterrence must have three

successful components to be an effective tool to combat crime. One of three components for
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deterrence is severity. The more severe the punishment for a crime, the more likely that an

average, rationally thinking person in society would avoid engaging in the criminal activity. Law

enforcement learned that in order to deter others from crime, the penalties for the violation of the

law must be harsh. That being said, Beccaria emphasized proportionality in the penalties for

crime. He argued that if the penalty for a crime was too severe, it would be seen as unjust. On the

other side of the spectrum, if the penalty for a crime was not severe enough, it would not be

effective in deterring persons from committing those crimes. The other two components of

deterrence are certainty and celerity. Certainty is the assurance a criminal will be punished after

they have committed a crime, and celerity is the swiftness of the issuance of punishment.

Beccaria’s Classical Theory of Rational Choice concluded that the closer a punishment is applied

to an individual for the criminal act committed, the greater the likelihood rational members of

society would grasp that engaging in crime is not worth the benefits (Bosworth 235).

Criminologists Lawrence E. Cohen and Marcus Felson expanded on the Rational Choice

Theory and developed a supplementary theory known as the Routine Activities Theory. Like

Rational Choice, the Routine Activities Theory depicts the average member of society as a

rational thinker and analyzes the costs and benefits. However, the Routine Activity Theory

explains what three elements must be present for a rational thinker to make the decision to

commit a crime. An opportunity must present itself to individual to commit a crime. For an

individual to seize that opportunity and commit the crime, there must also be a suitable target

and the lack of a guardian who can prevent the crime from occurring (Cohen and Felson 590).

In 2016, there were more people arrested for drug-related crimes than any other crimes

throughout the United States. Over 1.2 million people were incarcerated for possessing,

distributing, or manufacturing illicit substances (FBI 2017). Illicit drugs have been a problem in
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the United States for decades and has forced the local, state, and federal law enforcement

agencies to work together and combat these issues. In 1988, the U.S. Congress passed the Anti-

Drug Abuse Act of 1988, which led to the federal government working with state and local

governments to combat drug trafficking. The research of criminologists assisted in combating

drug traffickers as well as drug abusers. While imposing harsher sentences for those trafficking

in drugs and imposing mandatory prison sentences for various drug related offenses, deterrence

was a vital component in the thwarting drug crimes. However, it would not solve all problems.

As most criminologists argue, the average person is a rational thinker and weighs the risks versus

the rewards. The rewards seems to outweigh the risks involved in drug trafficking. There is a

high demand for drugs in the United States as the United States is one of the largest consumers

of all illicit drugs in the world. U.S. citizens spent nearly $140 billion on illegal drugs in the U.S.

alone last year. This billion dollar industry is attracting an overwhelming number of individuals

to engage in drug trafficking throughout all jurisdictions in the United States. Recognizing this

problem, the federal government established the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA)

program (Gaines and Kremling 341). This program created multi-jurisdictional drug task forces

through the country, from the Mexico-U.S. border all the way to the East coast. The task forces

are comprised of state and local law enforcement agencies joining federal agencies, such as the

Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the

Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). All of these different agencies, who consist of various

jurisdictions throughout the country, work together to combat drug trafficking.

HIDTA has twenty-eight headquarters establish all over the country and are in constant

communication. Major drug trafficking organizations are large scale operations involving

numerous members working internationally. These multi-jurisdictional task forces share

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databases with information pertaining to drug investigations and countless suspects’ information.

This not only keeps all law enforcement involved in the task forces up to date with frequent

changes in their operations, but also prevents two separate headquarters from overlapping their

investigations. These task forces have been proven to be more effective than leaving the burden

of disrupting drug organizations to local governments for several reasons. Some local and state

governments do not have the funds to dedicate manpower and purchase the equipment needed to

investigate drug trafficking organizations. Aside from the funds, the number of calls for service

within a police agency can keep law enforcement too occupied to effectively conduct drug

investigations. The most significant reason the multi-jurisdictional drug tasks are more effective

is right in the name. Police agencies have a limited jurisdiction, and drug traffickers do not. Not

all drug investigations will be contained in an explicit venue. Having a team comprised of

members from various jurisdiction and federal law enforcement resolves this matter. The federal

government distributes $250 million annually to these twenty-eight HIDTA locations to fund the

manpower and equipment needed to effectively investigate these organizations (DEA 2018).

Drug-related crimes are crimes that involve either the possession, distribution, or the

manufacture of a specific drug. However, there are many crimes that are correlated to drugs, but

are not classified as drug related crimes. Property crimes, such as burglary, larceny-theft, and

motor vehicle theft account for a significant portion of all crimes committed in the United States.

Many of these crimes were committed by individuals addicted to drugs. However, since no drugs

were involved in the crime, it is classified as a property crime. There were over 7.9 million

property crimes reported in the United States with a total loss of $15.6 billion in currency and

assets (FBI 2017). These crimes resulted in over one million arrests, the second most arrests as it

pertains to a specific crime, behind drug-related arrests. As technology is frequently changing,

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policing is frequently changing as well. Criminals adapt to their surroundings and discover new

methods of operations as police adjust their tactics. For crime prevention as it concerns property

crime, law enforcement agencies have, again, looked at the work of criminologists for strategic

response plans. When looking at the Routine Activities Theory, one of the most important

elements criminal offenders look for is the lack of guardianship. This could mean surveillance

cameras, police presence, or even the owner of property at guard. In the 1960’s in Cleveland,

Ohio, there was a detective who specialized in suspects who pickpocketed citizens and

committed various property crimes. He was assigned in plain clothes, or undercover, in a high

crime area near a convenience store. He observed three men who appeared to be “casing” the

place for a robbery. He approached them and identified himself as law enforcement and

ultimately patted them down discovering a firearm. This incident resulted in a U.S. Supreme

Court decision that gave law enforcement the power to “stop and frisk” subjects if the officer has

reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot. This infamous case law is known as Terry V

Ohio.

Law enforcement agencies all across the country have adopted and practice Terry Stops,

also known as stop and frisk, in combating property crime as well as violent crime. The New

York Police Department controversially used this method of operation in response to homicide

rates being at an all-time high in 1990. The New York Police Department were stopping and

frisking thousands of potential suspects for more than a decade. The violent crime rate drastically

decreased and went from a peak of 2,245 murders in the year 1990 to 333 murders in 2014 at the

end of the stop and frisk era (National Review 2018).

The founding fathers of the United States of America are responsible for the best strategy

in crime reduction as well as crime prevention. They gave every American citizen the right to
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bear arms. Although their intentions were more for the citizens to protect themselves from a

tyrannical central government, this also gives citizens the right to arm defend themselves from

criminals. Criminologists Cohen and Felson concluded in their research that one thing had to be

in place for a crime to occur and that is a suitable target. Their response to deterring crime was to

harden targets to prevent criminals from having the capability to commit a crime. Criminals prey

on the weak and seek soft targets. Their goals, as it pertains to property crimes, are to obtain the

most valuable goods, while exerting the least amount of effort. Firearms prevent approximately

2.5 million crimes a year or 6,849 every day in the United States (Kleck 1997). Local law

enforcement has learned from these statistics as well as the criminologists and provide concealed

carry permits to their residents in efforts to reduce prevent the victimization of their citizens.

Criminals will always be a part of society and prey on victims when an opportunity

presents itself. However, thanks to the advancement of theories on crime and the contribution of

dedicated criminologists, such as Derek Cornish, Ronald Clarke, Lawrence Cohen, and Marcus

Felson, police agencies know what leads an individual into engaging in criminal behavior. Those

criminological theories assist local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in preventing

and reducing crime throughout their communities. Though criminologists and law enforcement

have worked hand in hand for nearly 200 years, the founding fathers of the United States of

America have provided the citizens the advantage for crime prevention in their unalienable right

to bear arms.
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Works Cited

1.) Rafter, Nicole and Brown, Michelle. Criminology Goes to the Movies. New York

University Press; New York and London, 2011. 15.

2.) Bosworth, Mary. Encyclopedia of Prison and Correctional Facilities. Sage

Publications; 2005. 235.

3.) Cohen, Lawrence and Felson, Marcus. American Sociological Review. American

Sociological Association; 1979. 590.

4.) FBI. Table 21. September 18, 2017. Retrieved on July 27, 2018.

https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime.in.the.u.s-2016/topic-

pages/tables/table-21

5.) Gaines, Larry and Kremling, Janine. Drugs, Crime and Justice. Waveland Press, Inc;

Long Grove, Illinoise. 2014. 341.

6.) DEA.GOV/ Statistics and Facts. DEA/High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

Retreived on July 27, 2018. https://www.dea.gov/ops/hidta.shtml

7.) National Review. WE WERE WRONG ABOUT STOP AND FRISK. January 3, 2018.

Retieved on July 28, 2018. https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/01/new-york-city-

stop-and-frisk-crime-decline-conservatives-wrong
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8.) DR. Kleck, Gary. Targeting Guns. Criminologist, Florida State University. Aldine,

1997.