Crime

In the early 1990s, U.S. crime rates had been on a steep upward climb since the Lyndon B. Johnson presidency. The crack-cocaine epidemic in the mid-1980s added fuel to the fire, and handgun-related homicides more than doubled from 1985 to 1990. That year, murders peaked in New York City with 2,245 killings. Politicians embraced tough-on-crime platforms and enacted harshly punitive policies. Experts warned the worst could be yet to come. The incarceration rate doubled from 400 per 100,000 in 1990 to 800 per 100,000 in 2010. Since 1990 the murder rate declined from 24,000 per year to 16,000 per year despite the fact that the population increased from 250 million to 330 million. Starting about two years ago the country went soft on crime with incarcerations down. Nationwide, states and the federal government actually released fewer people from prison in 2020 than in 2019. The decrease in the incarcerated population was not related to releases, but rather the 40% drop in prison admissions and 16% drop in jail admissions. Some feel that the country should bring back stop and frisk and special crime units working undercover and cash bail along with electing prosecutors who are tough on crime. In other words bring back what worked in the 1990's.