first this.........
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theloo...ally-feel-safe
In Compton, once crime-ridden, residents finally feel safe
By Liz Goodwin
With a huge drop in homicides in a historically crime-ridden part of Los Angeles County, longtime residents say they finally feel safe sitting on their front porches and visiting neighborhood parks.
Compton, Calif., tallied only 24 homicides in 2010, down from 36 in 2009 and 87 in 1991, according to L.A. Times crime reporters. All in all, homicides plunged by 67 percent in less than five years, and other violent crimes are also way down (PDF).
"You see more people out and about," former Compton City Clerk Charles Davis told the Times. "You see a lot more people outside. There was a time when, if you had to be outside, you would be in your backyard, not your front yard."
[Related: St. Louis tops list of most dangerous U.S. cities]
Minnie Jones, 84, says she's taking walks in the park again. She was mugged in the late 1990s by three young men who stole her purse and car keys.
How has Compton achieved the turnaround?
Local authorities credit a 10-year effort to strengthen community ties and fight gangs. Residents tip off cops to possible crimes and help prevent youths from joining gangs, sheriff's officials say.
Compton's crime drop fits into the national picture: In the first six months of 2010, violent crime fell more than 6 percent in the United States -- the fourth consecutive year that crime dropped. In fact, violent crime has been falling nationally since about 1993.
Researchers have theorized many causes: the country's skyrocketing prison rates? The aging population? (Young men commit more crimes.) Increased access to abortion? Improved policing techniques, like the "broken windows" approach of former L.A. Police Chief William Bratton?
Some experts had expected the recession and high unemployment to reverse the trend, on the assumption that poverty and desperation fuel crime. But economists say the relationship between the economy and crime is more complicated than that.
[Related: Utah city may use blimp to fight crime]
"Forty-year-old non-offenders who get laid off are unlikely to start robbing 7-11s," University of Colorado sociology professor Tim Wadsworth told The Lookout in September. "Most of us think that the relationship between the economy and crime rates has more to do with high rates of joblessness influencing the health and well-being of communities." He says that gradual community breakdown could last years before producing more criminal activity.
Still, some communities are seeing the effects of tough economic times on their ability to fight crime. Officials in Camden, N.J., forced half of the police force out the door this week because of budget cuts. The police chief told the Newark Star-Ledger that people shouldn't bother calling the police to report minor traffic accidents, vandalism or thefts. More than 150 positions were cut; the mayor had wanted the police force to take a 20 percent pay cut to avoid the layoffs.
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