Crime Statistics

Each year, especially during election cycles, we are confronted with crime statistics.  We are given just the raw data to bounce around our brain and the raw data is frightening.

“Violent crime up 20%”

“Recitivism increased 35%” etc.

Politicians and the news media love to throw such numbers in our faces knowing that most of us will bite onto the hook and either vote for the “tough on crime” guy or continue to watch whatever media outlet irresponsibly published these unexplained stats.

I have been practicing criminal law since 1995 in central Florida (www.ejdirga.com) and I have to tell you that the truth behind these statistics is frightening but not because of what you think.

It all began in the ’90s with the passage of the Safe Streets Act.  This was federal legislation that promised, among other things, to add 100,000 more police officers to our nations streets.  The mistaken premise regarding this action was that more police equated to better protection – wrong.  It did do two things that were extremely detrimental to all of us: (1) allowed the federal government to enter our backyard and become involved in local law enforcement, and (2) addicted our state and local governments to the federal funds spent to pay for additional officers.

The first problem is that by having the feds offer funds for additional officers our local agencies were placed into a position of “use it or lose it.”  It is hard today to find anyone in government that is willing to give up “free” funding.  Now agencies were forced to hire additional officers or lose the funding entirely.  So they went back to their list of applicants and hired those that met the agencies standards.  If there was funding for more officers than they had qualified applicants they went back and lowered their hiring standards and filled in the additional positions.

Additional police officers equates to additional arrests.  Note: this is not a correllation regarding additional crime (but crime statistics will rise with more arrests).  As arrests rise, the statistics are posted and people become ever more frightened of the escalating crime rate (despite the fact that observed crime does not increase for the individual).  Higher statistics usually evokes a corresponding reaction in the legislatures around the country.

Year in and year out, the legislators in Florida have been spending their time each year making more and more behaviors criminal acts.  And year in and year out crime statistics rise.  Unfortunately, the reaction by the Florida legislature has often produced horrible law.

An example is the RACING ON HIGHWAY law.  It has already been found to be unconstitutionally vague by one District Court (and unfortunately found constitutional by another).  This law has prompted arrests that would have otherwise been simple traffic infractions.  I have even heard officers claim “anything can be racing.”  What that statement really means is that law enforcement can arrest you whenever they want to so long as you are driving at the time.

Another haphazard legislative effort has been the “DRIVING WHILE LICENSE SUSPENDED” prohibition.  It is actually a necessary law, however it is written so haphazardly that the average citizen cannot and does not have a clue as to its overly complex nuances.  Before most people realize what is happening the State of Florida is taking their driving privileges away from them for five years – all based on one activity, driving a car.  Let me clarify that last point – all that most of these people have done is drive a car – no accidents, no aggravating circumstances, just driving.

In addition to this the Florida Legislature concluded some time ago that punishing a person by taking away his or her driving privilege was a good idea even if the offense did not involve a motor vehicle.  So now, if someone steals food from a grocery they are not only charged with theft but upon conviction are having their driving privilege taken away.

Yes, it sounds good – make the criminal pay!  But the reality is that it is us that pay.  Soon a person has to drive to survive.  They get caught and now have a new criminal charge.  This is another case on an already over-crowded court system.  More judges are hired, more prosecutors and more public defenders.  They now find more people guilty of, say graffiti – and then they take away that persons driving privilege.  Crime continues to rise and fear has us voting for the politician claiming he or she is tough on crime again – and the pattern continues.

Crime statistics are misleading.  Look around – see if you can discern this rise in crime.  Don’t listen to politicians (sheriffs and state attorneys) or news anchors about crime statistics. They use these misleading figures to get more money for their departments or entice us to watch their news program.