2009 was both a good year and a bad year for law enforcement.
Nationwide, law enforcement deaths dropped to a 50-year low, with 124 officers killed in 2009. The homicide rate also dropped in cities across the U.S. Here in the Twin Cities, the rate in Minneapolis fell 50% from 38 homicides in 2008 to 19 this past year. That was the lowest number of homicides in a quarter century. Minneapolis was known as “Murderapolis” back in 1995 when the city reported a record 97 homicides. Homicides in St. Paul also fell from 18 in 2008 to 12 in 2009.
The decline in homicides bucks the conventional wisdom that murders and crime in general both increase in times of recession and economic hardship. No one is exactly sure why homicides are declining here and across the country, but some in Minneapolis attribute the decline to better police work, improved security technology, clearing alleys of garbage and graffiti, and working with rather than locking up juvenile offenders who show an interest in getting out of gangs and crime. St. Paul attributes the decline in part to targeting domestic disputes and helping gang members get driver’s licenses and find jobs if they pledged to go crime free.
Despite the nationwide drop in homicides, last week’s arrest of Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab demonstrates that our national security system has improved little since the 9/11 attacks. Part of that failure could be the result of our continued focus on “war” rather than on police work. I’ve always questioned the use of the term “war on terror”. Though we are certainly engaged in a battle with terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and now Yemen, the best way to prevent terrorists from striking the country again is through improved police work and intelligence gathering and sharing. The right question many are asking is why someone who is listed on the Terrorist Watch List was allowed to purchase an airline ticket?
No matter how many scanners we place in airports, terrorists will find a way around them. And how is preventing passengers from using the restroom the last hour of the flight, and restricting the use of blankets and carry on luggage going to stop a similar incident? Obviously, a terrorist could set off an explosive device well before the last hour of the flight. Instead of focusing our money and efforts on improving intelligence and communication between government agencies, it appears that we’re going to spend a fortune on scanners and new rules that will only inconvenience passengers and provide the illusion of safety.
In other words, pretty much what we have in airports now.
Happy New Year!