Not Entertainment

[kandrathe]

For all the various talk on the right about "tough on crime" and the left about "address the causes", it's pretty clear from the studies done that the one big variable that affects crime directly is police presence. They don't have to be harsh, they don't even necessarily have to be numerous - but they have to be out there for everyone to see.

Agreed. Focusing on harsher prison terms doesn't curb the cultural propensity for criminality, especially with youth who often don't connect actions with consequences. Crime is very much a local problem. One of the best strategies in Minneapolis was one that New York started. Essentially, the city council would target an entire crime ridden area as a zone of renewal, then purchase the properties on entire blocks, tear everything down, and build fresh. It was like attacking a cancer with major surgery, and it works. The criminals would have to move and rebuild their operations, but by doing this over, and over, each time crimes grip would be less and less. They would lose their customer base. Eventually, without a safe haven, it was mostly dispersed and gone.