

Global Warming Vs. Street Crime - cwan
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/global-warming-vs-street-crime/

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hga
I was born, raised in and have retired to Joplin, Missouri. I assure you we
don't have a " _global-warming conscience_ "; we're about a Red State as you
can get ^_^.

If you go on to read the Journal's article, I'd note that the Chicago Police
Department is so notoriously dysfunctional I'd throw its results out on that
basis.

Whereas we're really serious about crime and punishment, e.g. we passed a
special sales tax which not only funded the street light program but also
hired quite a few police officers and so on. And our justice and penal systems
preform more than adequately (e.g. sentences are serious and we maintain
enough prison space that we don't have to release ahead of time due to
overcrowding).

Bottom line: you have to do the whole package, street lights alone are not a
silver bullet. Which is a point argued by some in the WSJ article.

While I don't know if this has had any effect in these respective cities for
_street_ crime, it bears mentioning that Missouri is a shall issue concealed
carry state since 2003 or so while Illinois along with Wisconsin are unique in
absolutely banning it for civilians.

In Chicago prior to _Miller_ (or rather its future enforcement years from now)
simple handgun ownership by normal civilians was effectively outlawed and
permits for long guns were not easy to get, so that deterrence to a subset of
"property crimes" that can become violent crimes if it turns out there's
someone in a house being burglarized is absent. As well as anything based on
"hue and cry", if you hear someone being assaulted outdoors you can't legally
go help them while being effectively armed.

