There is a close correlation between increase in crime and stagnant economic growth. For a long time proliferation of crime, both at national level and at local levels have hurt the interests of the United States of America. The police have been instrumental in controlling crime to maintaining law and order. State governments have adopted crime control policies to protect the citizens from the injustice perpetrated by criminals.
The smart policing program in Los Angeles, California is an example of a police policy that has borne tremendous success over the years. The Los Angeles police department created the Criminal Intelligence Detail. The unit adopted operation LASER which has helped to reduce crime in chronic crime locations. Chronic offenders can no longer go free after the Police Department adopted the palantiar; a computer program that helps to acquire criminal data from several websites. The adoption of modern technology in policing, by the State of California has occasioned a drastic reduction of crime in the recent years.
New York City was the cauldron of crime and violence in the United States of America. The city was ruled by drug mafias and criminal gangs. The city was considered a dangerous place to live. By 2012, the situation had changed after the police adopted zero tolerance to crime in New York. The program involved placing over 4000 police officers in crime prone areas and combating drug dealers in broad daylight. Compared to the 1990s, the city is safer and no longer makes crime related headlines.
In conclusion, the reduction of crime is essential for the economic prosperity of any liberal country on earth. Although the practices adopted to combat crime have been met by a lot of criticisms for violating civil liberties, most states are safer because of the concerted efforts of police departments.
Works Cited
Benson, Bruce and Paul Zimmerman. Handbook on the Economics of Crime. New York: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010.
Blankstein, Andrew. "Meet the Mega Cops: High Tech Crime Gear Transforms Police Work." NBC News 8 February 2014: 5.
Hoover, Larry. Police Crime Control Strategies. New York: Cengage Learning, 2013.
