How would you improve a (our?) crime ridden society?

McCain '08â„¢

i would racial profile and any time a person matches a description of a perp then i would automatically send them to prison or put them to death whether it is the right person or not. before long people would stop covering for others and start turning the real criminals in.

sharon

Ensure that the penalty for transgressing the law is a deterant.

TURANDOT

Good question!

I would go back to the past and see how families and villages stayed together, united. I would learn from them and copy their values and traditions. I think it starts right at the root, with people staying united as a community. If someone has bread but another needs milk, a fair barter will do type thing. If someone needs milk but has no bread, sharing or working for it is acceptable too...

Something about technology and modern living corrupted the system of values that worked for hundreds of years.

yep

Get rid of all the crooked cops.

Hugo S

The answer is quite simple really.

Most criminals start at the bottom of the pile. Few crims go straight into serial murder/bank robbery/burglary etc.

Hence the best time to catch them and steer them in the right direction is when they have or are about to commit their first crime - most likely a bit of shop lifting or maybe some other minor crime.

This is when you hit them hard. They need to really pay society back for the crime they committed. Hence if they brake a window that costs Â£75 to fix then they need to work at minimum wage to pay that off. I'm not talking about a bit of community service where the community service officer just waves them through the system, but they actually have to produce Â£75 worth of value for money after costs to look after the little scroat IN A WORKHOUSE!

This could be in the form of working in a factory producing goods that actually pass inspection criteria. For example, manufacturing fence panels using a set of jigs and fixtures. They may have to make Â£75 worth of fence panels at Â£1 a piece to pay back their debt - at no salary. This could mean that they have to work some 15 hours at minimum wage, and receive no pay at the end, and that is assuming that he knuckles down and gets on with the job, and doesn't simply stick two fingers up. If he does screw around then his stay in the work house is extended until he has earned anough to pay off his Â£75 plus the costs of keeping him

Once the little scroat realises that he's actually been forced to get out of bed and go to work and is being drilled until he has done his bit, he may find getting a job and stickign to it a soft option!

I am also all for self financing prisons. The inmates would be made to work to either help with the cooking or carry out simple manufacturing tasks on behalf of manufacturers who would effectively pay the prison service close to the market rate for the goods/subcontract services that they recieve. This money would then be ploughed back into the prison service to fund much needed extra capacity.

Magic Matt

1) 3 strikes law, conviction of 3 felonies= life in prison. (Removes the most serious offenders from society)

2) Must do at least 85% of sentence before parole eligible. (Studies show credible threat of serious jail time effects criminal behavior, and older ex-cons 40 plus tend to commit fewer crimes)

3) No plea bargains for violent or repeat offenders (see answer #2)

4) Do away with jury trial. (They slow down the criminal justice system too much.)

ANNIE35

Concentrate on gangs and drugs. Those are the biggest problems in todays society. They cause the most fear and violence. After that we have crimes of passion and greed but I don't know how any society can fight that other than church. Good luck with that.

Aquila

Shoot every third offender.
and that goes for those illegals that sneak in via the chunnel.

finglas9

when i see the police chases on tv then the offender gets a caution for tearing up the streets knocking other drivers and pedestrians out of the way i wonder what is the point.

The simple lessen that actions have consequences is the best way. there are adverts on Tv threatening all of us if we dont buy a Tv licence well why is this not the case for other offences ?
If i stole a painting from Tate Gallery i would get a fairley long prison sentence, but i consider a burglary to be more serious yet most burglars dont go to prison. the whole criminal justice system needs a shake up but our politicians dont have the will to do it.

one shot

Build new super prisons in the most inhospitable parts of the UK. Remove the colour TV's and central heating. Supply 1 blanket and a wooden bench for sleeping, 1 sledgehammer for the hard labour and 1 meal a day. If they get 4 years then they serve four years and the same goes for all sentences - no time off. Remove all human rights for all convicts and allow 1 visit by family per year through a glass panel to prevent smuggling of drugs etc into the nick. Replace the wardens with the hardest nosed ex forces personnel money could provide!!

They wouldn't want to come back for second serving!!

Frogman

One arrest at a time....

Chip

Change the definition of crime.

There really aren't that many bad people, there are too many dumb laws. Americans are confused about law in general. They actaully believe that most laws have been passed to "make us safe". The truth is that most laws are passed via corporate sponsership and lobbied into law. For instance: Car insurance; sure it's a great idea to have it. But, we get punished without it? What? Stupid...I could give a million examples...

ufo18

Put them all on a guard surrounded island , tell them to fend for themselves, they do not want to be part of society so be it

Jeremy

Forced sterilazation for males who have committed 2 or more crimes by the age of 18. Deport illegals to free up prison space. Enforce the death penalty.

bert

First and hardest job is to make the police as efficient and honest as they were 20 years ago !

John C

First I would change the drug policy. In America we lock up the dealer and the user. Not only is it crowding a an overburdened prison system it doesn't rehabilitate anyone. Prison time should only be for dealers. Users should recieve addiction counseling or treatment. (this is considering the users offense was non-violent)

Second, I would legalize marijuana so to generate a legitimate flow of revenue for the government through taxes, and at the same time dismantle all DEA task forces that specialize in marijuana. If we need more cops then we need them protecting us from violence not a cheeseburger.

Third, I would pass strict regulation on insurance companies. In fact, I would like to see them as a non-profit entity. This would ensure that premiums are affordable, insurance companies cannot selectively choose what they will and will not pay for (all essential procedures and medications), and the pursuit of highest possible profits do not drive decisions for payouts. It allows private hands to continue to operate the market, and could breed more mutual cooperation for more markets to consider similar systems.

Fourth, I would actively deport illegals, but I would find better ways to get tax dollars out of them. In addition, I would pass devastating legislation that would give business owners more of an incentive to hire legal citizens and weed out those with fraudulent papers. I don't want to shut the borders, but I want it more regulated and I want them to contribute to the community chest.

Fifth, I would implement government birth control assistance programs to control unplanned reproduction. The programs would be voluntary, and geared toward educating those on how to raise, discipline, feed, and provide the nessesaries of the child's development. The idea behind this would be to reduce number of children with behavior issues that spur from incompetant/indigent parents.

arrestedamilliontimes

Make all these people who say they hate criminals spend a week in jail, and then have to get out and live in society and try to find a job with a few felony convictions. They can only imagine that that just happens to someone else.

Improve our schools. Deport illegal immigrants so the rest of us have more to go around.

unknownsoldier1st

Put all the judges, prosecuting district attorneys, parole and probation officers under constant surveillance---then blackmail them. Just because they are in authoritative power positions doesn't mean that they aren't involved in certain illegal activities. I am not saying all of them, but you'd be surprised. Their salaries cost the tax payers a whole helluva lot more than the cost to house inmates annually.

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