Trends in crime and law enforcement

Crime Rates by Regions

The FBI document the crimes that are experienced across the U.S.A. By recording and tabulating the crimes bot only by the number of people arrested but more significantly by the number of arrests that are made and the type of crime that prompted the arrest. This is a more accurate procedure since it helps in cases of multiple arrests of the same person within a year that may also be prompted by different crimes each time of subsequent arrest.

The paper is predominantly on the crime rates within four states; Northeast, Midwest, South and West within the year 2009 according to the data found in the FBI official website. An analysis of the crime rates and the reasons behind the variance in crime rates is also of essence here.

In 2009, Northeast experienced 1,624,285 crimes that were charged in the courts and this represented 3,625.2 crime rate within a population of 44.8 million people. Midwest on the other hand experienced 2,148,525 crimes as channeled through the justice system and this represented 4,396.6 crime rate within a population of 48.6 million people. South recorded 3,971,112 crimes which represented 5,075.1 crime rate among a population of 78.2 million citizens. Lastly, West had 2,996,003 crimes which represented a 4,411.2 crime rate within this region (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2010).

From the statistics above, the Northeast region presented the lowest crime rates among all the regions mentioned. Of greater interest are the crime rates in South region which are evidently higher than any other region. With a population of 78.2 million people against 4,553 law enforcement agencies the crime rates still soared much higher than even the West region that has a population of 67.9 million people against 1,866 law enforcement agencies. In simpler statistical interpretation, the South has 1 agency watching over 171,175 people and the West has 1 agency watching over 36,387 people at any given time. Logically one would expect the crime rates in West to be much higher than that of South and yet this is the inverse.

The Northeast recorded the lowest crime rates of 3,625.2 with all the others sticking above 4 figure and this strikes out as peculiar. The Social Disorganization theory of criminology can effectively be applied in this case to explain the difference in crime rates between the Northeast and the other three regions and also the drop in crime rates in 2009. According to Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, (2010) social disorganization theory indicates that the physical and social environment of an individual is the basis of the choices that the individual makes. A neighborhood that is distressing is likely therefore to record higher crime rates as compared to tranquil neighborhoods. The poor schools, vandalized infrastructure, high unemployment rates, lack of proper planning, congestion within the cities are some of the environments that predispose people to crimes. Apparently the Northeast region is seen to be presenting the conditions that are necessary in mitigating crime triggers as per the social disorganization theory. It is considered to have some of the best infrastructure within the nation with comprehensive and complete operational basic infrastructure like the wide range of transport options. It also boasts of the best and complete megalopolis and hosting three world class cities (New York, Philadelphia and Boston). It is also a region that still has some of the largest untouched rural land hence more people have the option of moving from the cities to these regions hence lowering dissolution due to city life. This region also has a good healthcare and education on the same with the rates of health conditions like obesity lower than other regions. The unemployment rate in regions like Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire are seen to be lower than in some of the cities in other regions. It is also worth noting that the region boasts of some of the most liberal and free political environments, this is exemplified by 5 out of the 9 states that have legalized gay marriages are from the region, among other political freedoms. These, according to my understanding, could be some of the social reasons why the region may be enjoying a significant lower crime rates than the other regions within the nation. The social disorganization seems to be applicable in this region indicating that the general atmosphere that one grows up in can significantly influence the general behavior and crime rates in a region.