Response to Luciann Mendez:
I would tend to disagree with this student, as we see more of a roller coaster effect happening with crime rates, even by their own admission. Crime rates have certainly increased since 1941, but they have decreased when one compares 1991 to 2010. I believe it is most likely that we will continue to see rates rise then fall again, as we have seen in previous decades. According to this student, the arrest rate per 100,000 people per year in 2012 was 3,888.2 arrests. According to the FBI website, in 2014 the same rates had dropped to 3,512.7 arrests per 100,000 people (Uniform Crime Reports). This indicates a decline, though a small one, over the past couple years. This decline is occurring despite current world events, which have created a climate of violence and hatred. However, I will agree with the student that as crime rates increase, so will our need for law enforcement.
Response to Michael Gamez:
It may well be that the BOP (Federal Bureau of Prisons) is responsible for the safety, wellbeing, and rehabilitation of prison inmates in the United States of America, but can it be said that they are able to perform this function as privatization of prisons becomes more common place in the United States? The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) reports that private, for-profit prisons, “are responsible for 6 percent of state prisoners, 16 percent of federal prisoners, and inmates in local jails in Texas, Louisiana, and a handful of other states” (Private Prisons, 2016). These percentages represent a huge number of prisoners who are, in effect, not protected by the BOP. It is often argued that privatization of prisons leads to government savings, but the cost in other areas (such as safety of inmates) seems all too high. There is an increased occurrence of violence in these private prisons, and conditions are often poor.
References
Private Prisons. (2016). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from https://www.aclu.org/issues/mass-incarceration/privatization-criminal-justice/private-prisons
Uniform Crime Reports. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014/persons-arrested/main
