News headlines seem to be everywhere documenting the recent spike in violence in urban areas. One such headline read: "Baltimore killings soar to level unseen in 43 years." Predictably, there has been much concern expressed by local leaders. Part of the response in Baltimore included the firing of the police commissioner.
Baltimore is not alone in this trend of increasing urban violence in the U.S. - Houston, Milwaukee, New Orleans, St. Louis and Chicago have seen murders spike this year. Baltimore is also not alone in responding to this increase in violence as a "fight against crime," placing the responsibility for addressing it on the criminal justice system. Local police, the front line in the fight against crime, are the primary agents tasked with fixing the problem.
But police can't fix it because policy makers and public officials have failed to see the bigger picture. The problem is that the violence is a symptom, and the current criminal justice system can fix neither the symptom nor the underlying disorder.
[For more of this story, written by William R. Kelly, go to http://www.mysanantonio.com/op...m-is-the-6436214.php]
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