We’ve already learned that eyes can keep you honest?even when they don’t belong to a real person! Holding eye contact, or “gaze,” with hysterical citizens is one of the most effective methods police officers can use to calm them down.
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It’s not just police who are trying to figure out how to stop crime–scientists struggle with this problem as well. Now accountants are getting into the act, because one of the big questions today is whether or not it will cost less in the long run to try to prevent crimes before they happen, even if it means creating costly social programs in order to dissuade people from breaking the law.
Prison expense is a major problem in the UK as well, and officials there are studying the results of the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP). Washington State may need three new prisons by 2030 if its jail population follows current trends, with each prison costing $250 million to build and $45 million per year to run.
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Firearms are used to kill two out of every three homicide victims in America.. Researchers have found that homicide rates among children, and among women and men of all ages, are higher in states where more households have guns. And in Australia, a big gun “buyback” lowered homicide?and suicide?rates considerably.
Researchers Matthew Miller, David Hemenway and Deborah Azrael did a telephone survey of over 200,000 respondents nationwide, from all 50 states, asking whether any firearms were kept in or around their home. The survey found that approximately one in three American households reported firearm ownership.
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If we can ever identify the genetic and psychological traits that make people criminals?especially killers?we may be able to lock them away BEFORE they kill. This theme was explored several years ago in the film Minority Report. Now it’s becoming reality.
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