Urban Crime, Race, and the Criminal Justice System in the United States

The impact of crime on general welfare is profound. Those most directly impacted are the victims of crime. By one estimate, the combination of direct monetary losses and the costs of pain and suffering among crime victims in the United States amounts to 0.5–0.7 percent of GDP (Freeman 1996). Beyond these direct costs are substantial indirect costs associated with reducing the threat of crime. In 1999, federal, state, and local government criminal justice expenditures amounted to $146.5 billion, or 1.6 percent of GDP (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2003). Many households pay significant premiums, either in terms of housing prices or a longer commutes, to live in neighborhoods with lower probabilities of victimization. Many also purchase security devices and insurance to minimize the likelihood and costs of being criminally victimized. Moreover, fear of crime often impacts the most mundane personal decisions, such as whether to walk down a given street or through a particular neighborhood, whether to let one’s children play outside, or whether to leave one’s home after dark. In addition to the costs to actual and potential crime victims, our public response to crime affects the lives of an increasingly growing population of male offenders. Over the past three decades, the US has experienced unprecedented increases in the size of the incarcerated population. In 1977, the number of inmates