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: The Buck Stops Here

Less is More when Fighting Crime

By Stuart Buck

From ScienceDaily: A new study suggests that too much money is wasted on low-risk crime targets. Both crime and prison populations could be reduced dramatically by focusing on the ?power few? criminals who commit the most crime, according to Lawrence Sherman, Director of the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania and Professor of Criminology at Cambridge University, UK.Using data across a wide range of research, Sherman shows that most crime is committed by a small fraction of all criminals, at a tiny fraction of all locations, against a tiny fraction of all victims, during a few hours a week. By focusing police, probation, parole, rehabilitation, security and prison resources on these ?power few? units with the most crime, the study shows how society could stand a far better chance at crime prevention without raising costs...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Buck Stops Here on November 26, 2007 (boomark / email).