Chapter 5 Crime: Fear in the Streets

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Seeking Security Some attempts at security bring smiles, many are deadly serious The problem with using a gun for deterrence is that often it is: –Only the criminal who has a weapon, and is ready to use it when a crime occurs

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 5.1 Murders by Guns, Selected Countries, 2004

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Street Crime and Youth Violence FIRE economy (finance, insurance, and real estate) –Leave many “burned” and excluded The changing economy has meant huge cultural and social dislocation Problems around the world Anomie

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. International Drug Trade Opium Cocaine –“crack” –Drug cartel Cannabis –Hemp; hashish; marijuana –Decriminalizing marijuana

International Drug Trade –“gateway” drug –Tobacco; nicotine; peyote Alcoholism New Recipes: Chemical Agents –“designer” drugs –Methamphetamine –Bazooka © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Figure 5.2 Global Opium Production 1990–2007

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 5.3 Potential Cocaine Production: Bolivia, Colombia, Peru*

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Incarceration around the World In the 1980s, the U.S. rate of incarceration was third in the world: –Behind the Soviet Union and South Africa In the U.S., the prison population grew in the 1980s and 1990s as the crime rate fell –The single biggest factor behind this increase has been drug sentencing

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 5.4 Rate of Incarceration in Selected Nations

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 5.4 Rate of Incarceration in Selected Nations

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. International Crime Cartels; In Search of Opportunity and Order Trading in Guns, Drugs, and People –The U.S. has a long history of urban gangs –Drug trafficking, prostitution (including global trafficking in women) –Extortion and kickbacks, and weapons trafficking Mexico’s Drug Wars