Rational Choice And Deterrence Theory Of Crime

Fellow officers, our city is in great peril as it has just been officially recognized as more murderous than Chicago. In 2015, the number of homicides reached 342 individuals, and this trend continued with 318 homicides in 2016 and 343 in 2017 (Steiner & Waisbord, 2017). We are currently sitting at about 100 murders this year so far, which is on pace to reach over 300 again for the fourth consecutive year (Steiner & Waisbord, 2017). Clearly, our current solution is not working and something needs to change in order to lower this murder rate. Compared to other cities, such as New York City, Philadelphia, and Detroit, we have the highest murder rate with 56 homicides per 100,000 people (Steiner & Waisbord, 2017). New York City, with over 8 million

After looking at the research and the current methods being used by the police, the main theories that can be assumed are rational choice and deterrence theories. Rational choice theory supposes an offender logically believes the benefits of crime outweigh the perceived risks, thus leading to crime. It also presumes the swiftness, severity, and certainty of punishment is key in an offender’s choice to commit crime. Since Baltimore’s murder rate is so high and many murders are left unsolved, a criminal actor takes advantage of the sluggish system to commit homicide and other crimes (Taylor, 2001). Baltimore police also focuses on deterrence theory as a way to combat crime. They are trying to lower the murder rate through general (overall aimed trying to reduce crime through the threat of legal punishment) and specific (aimed at an individual- to prevent recidivism) deterrence. Both rational choice and deterrence theories are used by police across the nation with very little success. Instead of trying to punish individuals and deter crime, police departments need to take a different stance on interpreting crime. For instance, they could use critical criminology, which examines capitalism as having the power to increase poverty and explains high levels of crime in areas with high poverty rates. They could also use the social structure tradition, which analyzes the way more diverse areas can have higher crime rates, looks at how patterns within the community perpetuate the cycle of crime, and includes analysis on the victimology. Under social disorganization theory, individuals from more disadvantaged areas are more susceptible to criminal activity. The Baltimore police department needs to have a comprehensive understanding of crime and that means being able to use various criminological theories to illuminate crime. If