inducing stricter alcohol policies as one of the best response strategies of curbing violent crime
Introduction
Violent crime is also known as a crime of violence, is also a type of crime in which a perpetrator or an offender threatens or uses force when engaging a victim. In this type of crime, violence is the primary objective. Violence, in this case, may include rape, murder, and other same forms that employ coercion. It is not a must that these crimes are committed with the use of a weapon. Notably, jurisdiction is applied in determining whether the crime committed violently is harassment or homicide (Short Jr, 2018). Examples of violent criminals include burglars, muggers, bank robbers, aircraft hijackers, rapists, carjacks, and drug cartels, just mentioning a few. Research implicates that different strategies can be employed in dealing with violent crimes across the world, depending on the locality and the analysis of the situations experienced in different parts of the world concerning human safety (Greenwood, 2018). Some of these strategies include inducing stricter alcohol policies, hot-spot policing, focused deterrence policing, raising the grade or the age for dropping out of school, behavioral intervention programs, and eliminating blighted housing amongst many others. Amongst these strategies, this paper will focus on the review of inducing stricter alcohol policies as one of the best response strategies of curbing violent crime. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Review of the Literature
Studies show that harmful and irresponsible use of alcohol is a core contributor to violence and crime-related cases. The link between violence and alcohol is complicated, but research implicates that the use of liquor precedes aggressive behavior (Braga & Barao, 2019). It is connected that alcoholism is associated with being a victim or a perpetrator of violence or both of them. Notably, those individuals who start drinking at an early age tend to drink large quantities of alcohol, and they drink more frequently. Research shows that these people have a high risk of committing violence. Besides, those environments which have an oppressive drinking culture have plenty of alcohol, and the people in these places experience high levels of violence.
More importantly, it is recorded that 30% of mortality across the globe is caused by alcoholism. 56 % of this percentage is experienced in Central Asia and Europe and 8% in North Africa and the Middle east. Before assaults that take place, alcohol contributes to more than half of perpetrations, which lead to violent crimes. In most countries, males are more likely to consume alcohol than women and hence being the core perpetrators of brutal and violent related crimes (Rossmo, 2017). Critically, the role of alcohol when it comes to aggression plays a critical role in extending to different crimes of violence, which include sexual violence, youth violence, elder abuse, child maltreatment, and intimate partner violence, just mentioning a few. Besides, 11% of suicide mortality globally is also associated with alcoholism.
Various policing strategies are employed in combating violent crimes. One of these policies is imposing stricter alcohol policies in those policies which are vulnerable to violent crimes caused by alcoholism. Study shows that a significant number of violent crimes are linked to addiction. Indeed, 40% of violent crimes are related to alcoholism. It is because alcoholism is associated with aggressiveness, which causes violence (Braga, 2017). Indeed, the consumption of alcohol leads to impairment in making decisions and judgment. Some of the policies which are employed in the regulation of the use of alcohol include the imposition of the high tax on alcohol and its products, reducing the number of outlets which distribute or sell alcohol and revoking the rights of alcohol offenders and inhibit them from drinking alcohol. For instance, some programs which rescind the rights of drinking, such as the 24/7 Sobriety Program, are working effectively in reducing alcoholism hence reducing violent crimes associated with addiction. When imposing some of the policies which combat alcoholism, it is critical for the authority to study the nature of its community and then come up with effective strategies of implementing the procedures which suit and work best in their environments.
The other crucial policing strategy is hot-spot policing. Indeed, research shows that this policing strategy is critical in the reduction of violent crimes, such as when they use evidence-based tactics. Indeed, research shows that violent crimes are in different places on different levels, such as in the block level, down to the streets, and in most driveways. As a result, the act of policing intelligently in these hot spot areas can have a significant impact on fighting violence and crime. Increasing the presence of police can be recommendable in this case (Wickes et al. 2017). Creating partnerships with shop owners, school officials, building managers, parents, families, and residents is critical in this case. Involving organizations is mission-critical in this strategy. The other approach is focusing on the deterrence of policing. Notably, community policing is an essential factor in reducing violent crime. Some of the critical factors in this aspect include the community aspects of dealing with drugs, violent behavior, gun violence, and gangs. Focusing on these groups and individuals who are responsible for driving these activities, such as people with criminal records and gang activities, is mission-critical.
The other critical policing strategy is raising the grade in which students can drop out of school. Keeping kids in school for a longer time is a crucial aspect in reducing violence and crimes. Research shows that those kids who do not drop out of school and instead finish school are less likely to be involved in committing crimes (Jarvis et al. 2017). Enrolling kids in kindergarten at a tender age are more likely to stay in school while joining them at an older age at the same level; they are more likely to drop out later and commit crimes and violence at the age of 19 years.
The other policing strategy which can be employed in reducing and controlling violent crime is using behavioral and intervention programs. These programs are more useful when they target youths who are at a higher risk of being involved in violent acts and encounters because of where the school or the environment in which they live. These programs are based on principles that influence their behavioral and cognitive policies, where it teaches them how to react in encounters of violence (Lippel, 2018). They are taught skills of negotiating with other people, slowing down situations of violence, and self-regulation. Last but not least, eliminating or cleaning and repairing blighted housing is also critical in reducing violent crimes. Indeed, this element reduces and even eliminates drug possession, drug dealing, and property crimes. It serves as an informal policing mechanism because space is invested and the area looked after by the neighbors.
Police Response Strategy
How can policymakers make the world a safe place? For instance, in one of the conventions for the Republican party in the US, the party leaders focused on how they could make the country safer. Although the world superpower is more reliable than it was many years ago, the aspect of safety was a critical element amongst its agenda. A review of various researchers and criminologists across the world has different arguments about the issue of violent crimes, not forgetting the other types of crimes (Meier, 2016). Since guns are allowed in different parts of the world, such as in the US, what are some of the policies which the US can use to reduce gun violence and other associated violence crimes without retrieving the guns?
Since the issue of guns is politically fraught, it is critical to seek different strategies for curbing violent crimes. Indeed, there is strong evidence that implicates that the US has a uniquely high level of ownership of guns hence making the country record the highest number of crimes when compared to the other developed countries’ (De Vocht et al. 2017). This aspect indicates that guns are not the only cause of evil, but other factors come into play. These issues range from socioeconomic variables to cultural problems to smaller problems such as the consumption of alcohol.
Inducing Stricter Alcohol Policies
Research implicates that several promising ideas can be employed in curbing violent crimes amongst other types of crimes. Although this strategy is not a significant object of study when it comes to reducing crimes, another different approach can be employed for the same purpose of making the world safer from violent crimes. Indeed, it can be said that this responsive strategy is critical in giving some perspectives with diverse options which the state, local or the federal lawmakers can employ to curb violent crimes which are either associated with the legal ownership of guns of civilians or even no firearms in different parts of the globe (Pollack, 2017). With no or less doubt, the consumption of alcohol is linked to different types of violent crimes. In this case, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence states that alcohol consumption contributes to more than 40% of all violent crimes committed in different parts of the world. There is a substantial relationship between violent crimes and alcoholism. Indeed, these statistics implicate that being drunk and engaging in violence are correlated mainly.
In different studies, it is shown that much aggressiveness and judgment decisions should be held regularly and inhibited suddenly when a person has consumed alcohol. Indeed, this should not mean that the consumption of alcohol should be prohibited. It is because the banning of alcohol can be catastrophic as it was experienced in the 1920s in the United States of America. Indeed, there are various ways that the federal, local, and state governments can use to limit and control various violent crimes that are associated with alcohol consumption (Taylor, Keatley & Clarke, 2017). One of these aspects is inducing a Higher Alcohol Tax. When it comes to this case, research suggests that doubling the tax of alcohol can be useful in reducing the mortality rates and violent incidents that are connected to alcoholism with a 35% average. Besides, research shows that imposing this policy is capable of reducing sexually transmitted diseases by 6%, traffic crash deaths by 11%, crimes by 1.4%, and also violence by 2%.
Secondly, research shows that the other important aspect of reducing the consumption of alcohol is reducing the number of outlets that dispense alcohol is mission-critical in reducing the number of violent crimes. In this case, it has been found that the act of limiting the outlets which distribute alcohol products is an effective factor in reducing the consumption of alcohol. For instance, imposing strict licensing in a specific area can be employed in limiting the problems which are associated with massive and irresponsible behavior and the dangers which are associated with drinking. In this case, it is critical to note that imposing this policy and letting move to a faraway place to access alcohol can also play a part in bringing negative results; that is why proper surveying and putting alcohol centers in convenient locations is essential. For example, when traveling to faraway places to drink, they can cause car accidents and crashes on their way back after drinking. Besides, these people also can have many clashes with people when they travel longer than short distances to access alcohol drinking outlets.
The third policy of controlling the consumption of alcohol, which is a significant cause of violent crimes, is revoking the alcohol offenders when it comes to their rights to drinking. For instance, imposing programs like sobriety programs is essential. For example, the 24/7 Sobriety program of South Dakota was imposed to revoke the right of drinking to its residents when a court said that it was necessary to revoke the right of a person after he or she commits an alcohol-related offense (Stanesby, Rankin & Callinan, 2017). In this case, the program employs specific monitoring to the offenders with twice a day bracelet tests or breathalyzer tests. The tests are capable of tracking the level of alcohol in the blood. When a person fails in the test, they are punished by being jailed for one or two days. Indeed, records implicate that these tests are playing a critical role in dropping the mortality rates, domestic violence cases, and DUI arrests. More importantly, more community violent crime control groups have also expressed their concerns that alcohol is a significant contributor to violent crimes, not forgetting to mention other crimes. It can be argued that these three policies can be employed hand in hand with each other to reduce and control violent crimes across the world.
Conclusion
The measures of reducing the availability and the harmful usage of alcoholism is critical when it comes to the prevention of violent crimes. Indeed, different aspects link violence crimes and addiction. Alcohol has a direct influence when it comes to cognitive and physical functioning. It contributes to violence and its associated crimes through a reduction of the ability to recognize some signs or warnings and also reduction of self-control. It is critical to cater to cultural and individual beliefs that alcohol is a significant cause of aggression, and this has a high probability of leading to the use of alcohol in preparing for and the excuses of acts of violence. The dependency of alcohol makes individuals fail in fulfilling duties of caring towards elders and children and women amongst the other vulnerable humans in society. The authority should come up with more effective strategies for dealing with the problematic use of alcohol because it is responsible for developing a mechanism of violence. More important, the prenatal exposure of alcohol in the development of a fetus should be avoided because it is linked consequently to behavioral problems later in life, such as criminal violence and behavior.
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