In the book Crime is not the problem (1999), two researchers from the University of Berkley, Franklin Zimring and Gordon Hawkins, show the findings of a 1997 investigation indicating that although the United States does not have a significantly high crime rate compared to other rich countries in the northern hemisphere, the number of lethal crimes is higher.
Vox collects the findings of the investigation: according to academics, the data remains current and indicates that American criminals kill more people than their counterparts in other developed countries. Why? The number of weapons seems to be what makes this difference.
Crime is not the problem
The researchers analyzed the rates of crime and violent deaths in some 20 developed countries, and found virtually no link between the two.
- In other words, the level of violent death in a country was not determined by its general levels of crime.
- They present the examples of England, Japan and the Netherlands. The former has the lowest rate of violent deaths and an average crime rate. Japan continues to have the lowest violent death rate and has the lowest crime rate. And the Netherlands, which still has the lowest violent death rate after Japan, has the highest crime rate.
- The researchers noted: “Common property crime rates in the United States are comparable to those reported in many other Western industrial nations, but rates of lethal violence in the United States are much higher,” they write. “Violence is not a crime problem.”
- Analyzing cases in the city of Los Angeles, they point out that a large proportion of the homicides in this locality arise from fights, discussions and encounters between acquaintances. On the other hand, a small proportion of homicide cases start with robbery or rape cases. The researchers note that there is no reason to believe the pattern differs in other cities. And this is where weapons play a role.
Weapons escalate a conflict to a homicide
As indicated by Zimring and Hawkins, the simple presence of weapons transforms what is happening into a lethal one. In a showdown between packs or the burglary of a store or business, there is generally the gamble that the outcome will be vicious, however with a current weapon, its possibilities transforming into a homicide are more noteworthy.
- Harold Pollack, co-overseer of the University of Chicago Crime Laboratory, called Zimring and Hawkins’ book “a great source.”Almost two decades after its publication, in 2015, it pointed to studies that fit the pattern identified by the researchers.
- Pollack also shared the Berkeley researchers’ theory that weapons easily escalate conflict into lethal violence and thus increase homicide rates.
- New York, for example, has not effectively reduced heroin use rates or addressed underlying problems, such as poverty, elements that gun advocates point to as causes of gun violence. However, it tightened its gun access laws, which coincided with less violence.
- “The proliferation of standard pistols is really our problem,” Pollack says. “If we were to regulate guns the way England regulates guns, we would certainly have a much lower murder rate.”
High rate of violence, arms and drug trafficking…
The non-governmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, pointed out that in conflict scenarios, the attention and capacities of States can be diverted to armed conflicts, leaving social, economic and security institutions weakened, a situation that is taken advantage of by organized crime to have a high participation.
The document recalled that Mexico is a country plagued by violence and organized crime, which is why it was declared the most dangerous in the world for journalists.
The Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime indicated that another of the factors that influence a higher crime score is that countries with maritime coastlines are more vulnerable to numerous illicit acts, from drug trafficking to people smuggling and illegal fishing.
In addition, the index indicated that Central America is among the top three regions in the world in various criminal markets, such as arms trafficking, crimes against flora and fauna, as well as the transfer of marijuana and cocaine.
In addition to these crimes, Mexico and Panama had one of the highest scores for human trafficking and smuggling.
Likewise, it is mentioned that Mexico has a well-established arms market that serves as a conduit to and from the United States, as well as throughout Central America, which has had a devastating impact on the levels of violence. The country is also home to a number of environmental crime markets, including the logging industry, wildlife trafficking and fuel smuggling.
Another point highlighted by the report is that, although countries such as Mexico, Brazil and Russia claim to be more stable in their democratic values and the defense of the rule of law, these are questioned or compromised when reducing their ability to deal with organized crime effectively.
