August 3, 1977

Crime DOES Pay

Contrary to what we learned at our mother's knee - crime DOES pay!

In fact, it pays so well that robbery, burglary and mugging has become this country's largest growth industry.

Crime, as a career, provides more money at less risk than a "legitimate" job pumping gas, washing dishes or digging ditches.

Dr.  Ernest van den Haag, internationally known expert in sociology and law, says there is a direct connection between lenient courts and high crime rate.

"When punishment is quick, certain, and severe, the risk in crime is too great, and many would be criminals are deterred," Professor Haag told a seminar of Ohio officials and community leaders last week in Akron.

Dr. Haag exploded a bag full of crime myths dear to the hearts of those who hold society to blame for the criminal acts of individuals.  The rationale for permissive treatment of thugs is that the rest of us have failed to provide decent living conditions and job opportunities, thus forcing the disadvantaged to take by force what ought to be theirs by birth right.

This is the argument used to justify wide scale looting during the recent New York City blackout.  It is so persuasive that a civil rights activist group is preparing a suit against the New York police for monetary damages to each arrested looter!

The typical career criminal, days Dr. Haag is 29 years of age, male, and single.  Almost a third of them are on drugs, and 44 percent are on parole for a previous offense or awaiting trial for a new offense.

And here's the grabber: 7 percent of the criminals commit 50 percent of all crimes and 90 percent of the violent crimes.

Such statistics convince Dr. Haag, and a growing number of penologists, that imprisonment of the tiny corps of professional criminals would lower the crime rate dramatically.  The premise is simple: when a criminal is behind bars he can not commit a crime.

It is certain that the frequent offender will prey on society continuously.

A study of 10,000 young Philadelphia men, all born in 1945, emphasizes the prevalence of multiple offenses.  In 1964 this group had 627 men, less than 6 percent, with five or more arrests.  By 1975 this group had 1,440 chronic offenders, nearly 15 percent.

During the period of the study the career criminals committed 22,000 crimes.  Yet, few law breakers were detained.  Killers who were convicted spent an average of only four years in prison.

Once a juvenile has been arrested three times, the chance of him continuing on to his 20th crime is 70 percent or better!

This dismal statistic is the direct result of "soft" judges, says Dr. Haag.  Last year in New York City, police made 20 thousand felony arrests.  Of these 12,700 were tried - but only 7,600 were found guilty, and only 153 actually went to prison for an average of slightly less than two years.

Dr. Haag points out that the odds of an arrested criminal being penalized are just 1 in 130.  To street-wise young men, it is perfectly rational to choose crime as a career.  This is especially appealing to the 40 percent of young black men unemployed, uneducated and untrained.  The pay is high, tax free and has very little risk.

The solution to the high crime rate, according to Dr. Haag, is concentration on the top 7 percent of repeat criminals.

To impress the career criminal that crime doesn't pay we must move him to trial quickly while evidence and witnesses are fresh, refuse to plea bargain with him, set his bail as high as possible, make minimum sentences mandatory, and abolish parole.

A few U.S. cities, including Akron and Columbus, have taken this approach and are producing marked decreases in their crime rates.

President Gerald Ford introduced the tough program for controlling career criminals.  The pilot in Ohio was conducted in Columbus by George C. Smith, prosecuting attorney for Franklin County.  There was a decline in violent crime of 15 percent during the first year in Columbus.

"The certainty of punishment, rather than its severity, is the important thing," says Dr. Haag.  "Only if the law is credible will it convince the smart criminal the odds are no longer in his favor.  Leniency does not work because it fosters a high crime rate."

Several studies have shown that rehabilitation programs have absolutely no effect on the crime rate.  About 15 percent of first-time inmates in "tough" prisons will go straight, exactly the same percentage as in permissive prisons.

"Rehabilitation is humane in that it makes life easier for the 15 percent determined to reform, but it costs a lot of money that would better benefit society at large if spent for new prisons," says Dr. Haag.

It is unrealistic to try and "save" career criminals.  Most choose their lifestyle because it is easy money.  Some enjoy the "thrill" of crime, just as some of us enjoy being a policeman, fireman or newspaper reporter.

Some social problems can't be fixed, says Dr. Haag.  In these cases we can only isolate them - and crime is one of these.

Author: Lindsey Williams