75-16-B2
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Crime Care and Prevention
TranscriptIs there something we can do about crime or must we wait for government to find an answer? I'll be right back. Last year, serious crime offenses like robbery, murder, aggravated assault and burglary went zooming up in the sharpest increase in 15 years, and almost half those crimes were committed by youngsters under age 18. Most of the increase took place, not in the inner city, but in rural areas or affluent suburbs. Crime is now costing more than one-fifth of the gross national product, four hundred and twenty dollars for every man, woman and child in America. Pretty soon, at this rate it'll cost almost as much as taxes. Earlier in another broadcast, I mentioned the shocking fact that an urban American boy born in 1974 has a greater chance of being murdered than an American soldier had of being killed in World War II. We can't get away with the statement anymore that crime doesn't pay, only 21% of serious crimes led to arrest and 5% to convictions. With all the increase in crime, there are fewer people in prison today than there were fifteen years ago. Almost two-thirds of all crimes are committed by repeaters, people with previous records, many are arrested while they're out on bail waiting trial for crimes already committed. We can talk about law enforcement and crowded courts but we have a hundred thousand more policemen than we had eight years ago and efforts are being made to speed up justice. Is there something we as citizens can do that might be effective? Well about 10 years ago in southern California, a man driving through the Malibu Hills stopped, just out of curiosity, at one of our county probation camps. These are camps for youngsters who've been in trouble but who are, in a sense on probation. they do hard outdoor work, clearing fire breaks, making trails and roads and fighting the brush fires that plague the area in the dry season. This man took what he'd learned about the camps back to his fellow members of B'nai B'rith. The organization adopted this particular camp. Now actually what this amounted to was just dropping in for visits with the boys on weekends and evenings. Oh now and then they bought a bat and ball or provided a sweater or pair of slacks for some kid who was being released, but mainly one man or two or three at a time would sit around and talk with the kids, answering their questions and telling them about their work and what it was like to get a job and grow up and build for the future. Very shortly, the county officials were amazed to discover that young men were being released in half the time it required in all the other camps. You can guess at the dollar savings to the taxpayers, but think of what must have happened to the kids themselves. Now I've learned that in Royal Oak, Michigan some time ago a program started in which volunteers ranging from housewives to blue-collar workers started working with the probation department. The idea spread to New Hampshire where for five years volunteers have worked several hours a month on a one-to-one basis with offenders. The rate of those who go out and commit another crime has been cut in half. Tests conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health have shown definite personality improvement in 73% of the youngsters. The idea is that a non-government volunteer can have a greater impact on a troubled youngster than judges, police and even professional probation officers. Turning a young man or woman from a life of crime to a happy normal life with a future must give a person a lot of satisfaction. It can make our neighborhoods safer too and it doesn't cost a dime. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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