An unbalanced approach

Recently, the Department of Justice’s budget for 2012 was passed.  As the Justice Policy Institute (JPI) reported , while prevention programs and juvenile justice programs were targeted for budget cuts, prisons received funding increases. 

 Undeniably, prisons play a crucial role in preventing crime by deterring potential criminal from committing crime.  The problem is with the unevenness of the United States’ approach .  So much money is going to prisons while prevention programs are being cut back year after year. 

 The results of this unbalance are stark.  There are currently 2.4 million people incarcerated in US prisons and jails.  This is the highest rate of incarceration in the world. For minorities this situation is even more extreme, with more African American’s are under state control today than during slavery in the 1850s.

 Furthermore, prevention program that have been proven to work are lacking in many communities.  For example, the CeaseFire program is only implemented in about 25% of the violent communities in Chicago and in only a handful of cities in the country.  Other prevention programs are similarly lacking coverage in the communities that need them. Read Daniel Webster, deputy director for research for The Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence, explain how prevention programs cut crime here.

 The choices our government makes about funding determine the path that our country will take.  A continued emphasis on prisons will mean that our country will continue to be burdened with the costs of incarcerating millions of people. Increasing the funding for prevention programs can lessen this burden, decrease crime, and increase the number of productive members of our society.