Richmond’s homicide rate on pace to reach 37-year low, without violating the 2nd Amendment.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

A recent poster brought up how violent Richmond, VA was in comparison with the District, which I'll have to admit I never knew. Then I came across this article. To my surprise it seems that they have, so far this year, been able to dramatically reduce the murder rate in their city without infringing on the Constitutional rights of the law abiding. I don't know any specifics other than what's in the article, maybe though we could look to that city as a model of how to balance the rights of the honest citizen and the need to reduce unnecessary violence.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/crime/article/RHOM07_20081206-211651/144281

David

[sam sarrha]

1. could it be that no one has any money to steal....??

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

4. That would account for a lower theft rate and might slightly lower the murder rate.

I'd guess though that theft increases in a bad economy and therefore murders associated with theft would increase. That's just a guess though.

David

[sam sarrha]

5. getting rid of heroin dealers seriously drops the murder rate

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

6. I'd say getting rid of violent criminals of any kind would.

[doc03]

2. I believe the states and cities with the most restrictive

gun laws are also high crime areas. We got Concealed Carry in Ohio a couple years ago and I haven't heard any reported increase in violent crimes.

[iverglas]

7. and this would have to do with the *high* homicide rate in Richmond, VA

... how?

You might want to take a kick at explaining some of the others while you're at it.

Apparently

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=118&topic_id=193640&mesg_id=193775


Gary, Indiana
Camden New Jersey
Youngstown Ohio
Compton California
New Orleans Louisiana
Richmond California
Birmingham Alabama
Baton Rouge Louisiana
Detroit Michigan
Baltimore Maryland
St Louis Missouri
Newark New Jersey

all have exceptionally high homicide rates.

Perhaps your theory explains all this somehow ...



I believe the states and cities with the most restrictive gun laws are also high crime areas.

I'll bet you'll find that the states and cities with the highest ice cream consumption also have the highest mean temperatures.

Now if those people would just stop eating ice cream, they could reduce their electricity bills for all that air conditioning significantly ...

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

8. But magically they've been able to reduce homicides without banning guns.

Maybe Richmond can have their Ice Cream and eat it too.

David

[iverglas]

9. Huh

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jan/25/politics.ukguns

The fall in the annual crime rate in England and Wales is accelerating, with a drop of 9% recorded by the police in the year to September 2007, according to Home Office quarterly figures published yesterday.

The continuing decline in police recorded crime, which includes a substantial 17% drop in robbery, a 16% fall in serious violence and a 9% reduction in sexual offences, is matched by a 4% fall in crime as measured by the British Crime Survey over the same period.

However, these figures are marred by a 4% rise in gun crime recorded by the police and a 21% rise in drug offences.

The rise in gun crime represents an increase of 427 offences to a total of 10,182 firearms offences, but Home Office statisticians said the main increase had been in incidents in which guns had been used to threaten but no one had been hurt.

The number of gun-related deaths went down from 55 to 49 in the year to September 2007. Incidents involving serious injury also fell, by 16%.

So many kinds of magic.


Edit, to add the perspective.

From your article:

If 2008 ends with fewer than 51 slayings, it would be the lowest homicide count since at least 1971, the earliest calendar year for which authorities have figures.

Richmond police report 33 homicides so far in 2008. And though a year-to-date total of 33 violent deaths is nothing to celebrate, there has been real progress in a city that once earned the nickname "Murder City." Richmond led the nation in per capita homicides in 1994, with 160.

Richmond has a population of less than 200,000.

England & Wales have a population of about 60 million, and had 784 homicides in 2007-2008.

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb0708chap3.pdf

If England & Wales had a homicide rate equivalent to the Richmond, VA rate -- say 35/200,000 -- it would have had 10,500 homicides.

I don't mean to compare apples and oranges, of course. Just to demonstrate that Richmond still has a sky-high homicide rate, whichever way you slice the fruit.

And the UK still has an extremely low homicide rate.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

10. If the Brits can do it then everyone has hope.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[spin]

3. Obviously "feel good" gun laws are not as effective as...

enforcing existing laws.

Prosecutors and police officials credit a stronger working relationship between themselves and their federal counterparts, along with aggressive targeting of violent offenders and a cultural change in the city's neighborhoods that favors stronger cooperation with police.

Officials also attribute the success to a community-oriented sector-policing strategy put in place by former Police Chief Rodney Monroe; a drastic increase in police manpower; and targeted efforts to curb blight in specific areas, which has changed the face of some troubled neighborhoods.

*************snip**************

The relationship with federal authorities is important. For example, if a Richmond detective knows who committed a homicide but doesn't have enough evidence to charge the killer with murder, he might work with the DEA to build a case that puts the suspect away on drug and gun charges with a tough federal sentence.
http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/crime/article/RHOM07_20081206-211651/144281