1. Crime Waves and Fear of Crime
Class 1

2. Administrative Give quiz
Remember to check announcements a couple of times every week

3. Review Social Construction of Crime History of Crime
Behaviors that are and are not criminal change over time
Relationship in the past of crime and sin
Capital crimes were much more common
One thing that hasn’t changed much is demographic make-up of criminals

4. Today Images of Crime and Criminals What do the Data Show?
Limitations of Crime Data
“Recent” Crime Waves/Panics

5. I. Images of Crime and Criminals
What do we picture when we think about crime?
Why is this what we picture?
How accurate is this picture?
What is a crime wave?

6. II. What Do the Data Show? Does crime get worse over time?
Why do so many people have the impression that it does?

7. II. What Do the Data Show? 2013 City Crime Rate Rankings
Nationally highest are Camden N.J., Flint, Mi., Detroit Mi., Oakland, Ca., St. Louis, Mo.
Nationally lowest are Fishers, In., Carmel, In. Parma, Oh., Johns Creek, Ga., Ramapo, NY

8. II. What do the Data Show?
2014 City Crime Rate Rankings (only cities over 500,000)
Highest are Detroit, Baltimore, Memphis, Milwaukee and Philadelphia
Lowest are El Paso, New York, Austin, San Diego and Los Angeles.

9. II. What Do the Data Show? Rankings of major cities in New York State
Yonkers 161*
New York 196
Albany 293
Syracuse 366
Rochester 393
Buffalo 415

10. III. Limitations of Crime Data
Definitional issues
Who does the reporting?
What do they report?
Gaps in the data?

11. IV. “Recent” Crime Waves/Panics
The McCarthy Period (1940s and 1950s)
The Drug Crime Scare (1980s)
Immigration Scare (2000s)
In each case, what did the data show?

12. Next Time
An example of the response to a crime wave

13. Crime Waves and Fear of Crime
Class 2

14. Administrative
Return quizzes

15. Review Our data about crime are highly imperfect
No evidence crime is becoming a worse problem – which doesn’t prevent our politicians from claiming it is
Crime waves often based on hysteria rather than hard evidence

16. Today What happened to Tyler Clementi and why?
What does the public believe happened?
How did the legal authorities respond?
The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Bill

17. I. What Happened to Tyler Clementi and Why
Roommate set up webcam so he (and others) could watch Clementi during date
Watched during date and commented online
Clementi became aware and unplugged roommate’s computer so second attempt unsuccessful
Clementi reported roommate’s action to Rutgers authorities
Clementi committed suicide (jumped off George Washington Bridge)

18. II. What Does the Public Believe Happened?
That Ravi and his friends outed Clementi
That Ravi posted pictures of Clementi having gay sex on the internet
Does the falsity of these beliefs matter? Should it matter?

19. III. How Did the Legal Authorities Respond
Plea bargaining with Dharun Ravi’s friend Molly Wei for her testimony
Charged Ravi with 15 counts of four different offenses
Offered Ravi plea bargains which he rejected
Verdict and sentence

20. IV. The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Bill
Introduced less than two months after Clementi’s death
Requires colleges to have anti-harassment policies
Is this a sensible response?
Is this a major problem susceptible to legal resolution
Are there adequate laws on the books
Will this result in negative unintended consequences?

21. Next Time
Begin section on violent crime