Causes of the Drop in United States Crime Rates Throughout the past several years, crime rates in the United States have been dropping, even reaching their lowest levels since the 1960s in some categories (Simpson). The big question regarding this trend is: why are the crime rates dropping? Obviously, the factors contributing to the overall crime rate are innumerable and quite complex, but there are two significant causes of this decline. Crime rates in the United States are falling because of an older population and more effective policing tactics. According to the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics, the United States population is increasing in age (“Population”). An increase in the age of the population means that there …show more content…
Take, for example, “hot spot policing.” This is a tactic where cities deploy more police to areas that tend to have an elevated concentration of crime. There are often certain areas in cities that generate the majority of that city’s crime, so deploying more police officers to patrol these areas seems like it would have a positive effect on crime rates. In practice, this holds true, as “There has been a significant amount of rigorously applied research on hot spots policing, and the combined results indicate that it contributes to meaningful reductions of both crime and disorder” (Santos 42). These data indicate that the recent focus on employing a greater police presence in high-crime areas is a way to reduce the overall crime rates. Although some people may argue that these tactics just move the crime to a different location, “complete displacement rarely occurs, which means that even when a hot spot is moved, some crime reduction has occurred” (Santos 42). The application of “hot spot policing” and other strategic policing tactics are very easy ways to decrease crime rates, and are a significant drive behind the decreased crime rates experienced in the United States at