Post by SoulTrainOz on Jun 28, 2006 19:00:32 GMT -5
Nashvillians share the cost; they need to share in finding the solution
Most Nashvillians have no contact with murder victims or murder suspects.
They live in safe neighborhoods; their neighbors aren't drug dealers; they know no one who belongs to a gang.
But all Nashvillians, no matter how secure, pay the cost of this city's murder rate, which has crept to a despairingly high level.
A recent Tennessean series puts some price tags on murder. While some costs are borne by victims' families, most costs are paid by taxpayers. They pay for the police work, the prosecution, the judges and more often than not the legal defense. They pay for prison beds, prison meals, prison guards and prison health care. They pay for the appeals, which in death penalty cases can be prolonged.
Taxpayers and individuals with insurance pay much of the cost for
emergency medical care rendered to assailants and victims. They pay for public assistance to victims' survivors. They pay for autopsies of the deceased and investigations into the suspected.
The series concludes that the aggregate annual cost of murder for state and local governments in Tennessee is roughly $110 million. In Nashville, it's $18.7 million. Neither the state nor this city can afford the cost. So what can be done?
Tinkering around the edges could reduce some expense. There might be economies of scale that could reduce costs. Opponents of the death penalty, including this newspaper, believe that abolishing capital punishment would spare the state the costs of death penalty appeals.
Yet any savings those steps would achieve would be minimal. In fact, in many areas of criminal justice, the public ends up paying more in the long-term when government tries to scrimp. For example, because assistant public defenders and prosecutors are paid less than most attorneys, they leave their jobs, creating a turnover that results in inexperienced lawyers handling highly technical matters, leading to more grounds for appeal.
So we are confronted with the inescapable fact that the only way to reduce the cost of murder is to reduce the number of murders.
As Nashville's murder rate has climbed steadily, community leaders and citizens have asked police officials how they plan to respond. That approach won't get the city very far. A routine police presence can make a neighborhood safer. But police alone can't reduce the murder rate.
The only real answer is the hardest one: strengthen the city. That means religious leaders need to take responsibility for all the young people in their neighborhoods, not just the ones they see on Sunday. Schools need to hold parents accountable for their children's discipline problems. Nonprofits need to help meet the drug problem head-on by helping children understand that drug use is a one-way ticket into hell.
And citizens in all neighborhoods - not just high-crime areas - must play a part by mentoring a child, coaching a team or assisting a victim.
We all pay the price for murder in this city. We all must be part of the solution.
Source: Opinion, The Tennessean
Most Nashvillians have no contact with murder victims or murder suspects.
They live in safe neighborhoods; their neighbors aren't drug dealers; they know no one who belongs to a gang.
But all Nashvillians, no matter how secure, pay the cost of this city's murder rate, which has crept to a despairingly high level.
A recent Tennessean series puts some price tags on murder. While some costs are borne by victims' families, most costs are paid by taxpayers. They pay for the police work, the prosecution, the judges and more often than not the legal defense. They pay for prison beds, prison meals, prison guards and prison health care. They pay for the appeals, which in death penalty cases can be prolonged.
Taxpayers and individuals with insurance pay much of the cost for
emergency medical care rendered to assailants and victims. They pay for public assistance to victims' survivors. They pay for autopsies of the deceased and investigations into the suspected.
The series concludes that the aggregate annual cost of murder for state and local governments in Tennessee is roughly $110 million. In Nashville, it's $18.7 million. Neither the state nor this city can afford the cost. So what can be done?
Tinkering around the edges could reduce some expense. There might be economies of scale that could reduce costs. Opponents of the death penalty, including this newspaper, believe that abolishing capital punishment would spare the state the costs of death penalty appeals.
Yet any savings those steps would achieve would be minimal. In fact, in many areas of criminal justice, the public ends up paying more in the long-term when government tries to scrimp. For example, because assistant public defenders and prosecutors are paid less than most attorneys, they leave their jobs, creating a turnover that results in inexperienced lawyers handling highly technical matters, leading to more grounds for appeal.
So we are confronted with the inescapable fact that the only way to reduce the cost of murder is to reduce the number of murders.
As Nashville's murder rate has climbed steadily, community leaders and citizens have asked police officials how they plan to respond. That approach won't get the city very far. A routine police presence can make a neighborhood safer. But police alone can't reduce the murder rate.
The only real answer is the hardest one: strengthen the city. That means religious leaders need to take responsibility for all the young people in their neighborhoods, not just the ones they see on Sunday. Schools need to hold parents accountable for their children's discipline problems. Nonprofits need to help meet the drug problem head-on by helping children understand that drug use is a one-way ticket into hell.
And citizens in all neighborhoods - not just high-crime areas - must play a part by mentoring a child, coaching a team or assisting a victim.
We all pay the price for murder in this city. We all must be part of the solution.
Source: Opinion, The Tennessean