America’s crime panic: why we can’t afford to repeat mistakes of the 90s
Opinion by Abené Clayton in Los Angeles - Wednesday
In the past two years, warnings of a pandemic-induced crime wave have become a staple of America’s evening news. A historic rise in homicide rates and reports of frequent retail thefts and “smash and grab robberies” have refreshed paranoia about a wave of violence and property crime. These fears have driven recall efforts against progressive prosecutors and calls from officials and residents alike to strengthen police forces.
But this isn’t the first or even the second time the US has faced a moment of hysteria related to crime, reflexively calling for harsher punishments for perpetrators and more police officers on city streets.
The most recent public safety debate has drawn comparisons to the late 1980s and 90s, when murders and the crack-cocaine epidemic were met with more arrests and longer sentences, especially for juveniles. While there are similarities, people today have the benefit of hindsight to see how previous policies have affected the same communities where violence remains concentrated, argues James Forman Jr, the director of Yale University’s Center for Law and Racial Justice and the author of Locking Up Our Own, a book about the response of Black officials, prosecutors and judges in Washington DC at the time.
“Of course, things have always been contested, but today there is more ammunition at people’s disposal to contest new policies,” Forman said. “We can look at the 80s and 90s and say, ‘Wait a minute. Let’s not do that again.’”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/america-s-crime-panic-why-we-can-t-afford-to-repeat-mistakes-of-the-90s/ar-AAWpwb7?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=3c3425c0ee9a453faa811205d3d83e42
