A comprehensive approach to crime in the inner city..

I believe that a lot of time crime and violence in the inner city are looked at as an independent phenomenon. There is this unspoken belief that people who live in inner cities are inherently violent because of their skin color or socioeconomic status. I believe that one has to view crime as a byproduct or a result of some other failure in the community. Inner cities are often deprived of humanity—resources, opportunities, safety, etc. Once you strip away the humanity of a community, survival becomes the soul motive. This is made evident in the video posted to blackboard. In the absence of jobs and quality education, people result to the only forms of survival available. These forms are considered criminal in the eyes of the law. Further, crime begets crime. People sell drugs to people in their communities. People addicted to a substances don’t think rationally and are therefore likely to commit crimes to obtain money to buy drugs. People who then get robbed then retaliate, also seen in the video, and violence becomes cyclical.

We discussed a variety of options in class that directly involved approaches to dealing with crime. Although I agree with many of the theories, including the broken window theory, I believe that a city’s first line of defense in the inner city involves infusing communities with resources. Areas with healthy economies have lower crimes rates and it is no coincidence. If inner city neighborhoods had jobs, quality housing, and adequate education, I believe that violent crime alone would drop off. Couple that approach, with an increased police presence and I believe you have the remedy for a safer city. Curbing crime is important, but something needs to fill the void. Physical improvements to a community like parks and restaurants are essential crime preventers and community builders as well, urban planner Jane Jacobs might argue.