{"id":3124,"date":"2021-03-09T19:41:29","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T03:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124"},"modified":"2021-03-09T19:41:29","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T03:41:29","slug":"the-massive-murder-tax-on-the-poor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124","title":{"rendered":"The Massive “Murder Tax” on the Poor"},"content":{"rendered":"

My friend Sean Kennedy, a visiting fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute, has the specifics about how America’s unprecedented murder spike in 2020, fueled in part by coerced police pull-backs and partial de-funding, has brought catastrophic economic damage to those least able to withstand it.\u00a0 As Sean sums it up:<\/p>\n

[T]he crime tax costs jobs, reduces property values, deters investment, and undermines trust in public institutions\u00a0 —\u00a0 and, destroying opportunity, dashes hope for those who need it most….Crime may not pay but it certainly costs, a lot. Economically struggling Americans need relief, so let\u2019s start by cutting the most regressive tax of all\u2014violence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

With Sean’s permission, I repeat his full piece below:<\/p>\n

\n

While COVID-19 imposed a terrible toll in death and economic destruction in 2020, another epidemic devastates American communities both financially and personally\u2014violence.<\/p>\n

Preliminary statistics show murders rose by\u00a035 percent<\/a>\u00a0across 60 of the nation\u2019s largest cities.\u00a0Nationwide FBI data<\/a> through September show a 21 percent jump in homicide and 8.3 percent increase in aggravated assaults, including those by gun.\u00a0 Aggravated assaults and shootings climbed by roughly 10 percent\u00a0over the summer and fall of 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Such violence exacts a heavy toll or \u201cmurder tax\u201d on the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n

While the spring lockdowns saw a slight lull in violence, the carnage picked up in the aftermath of late May and early June unrest and\u00a0subsequent police pullback<\/a>. The epicenters of anti-police protests and riots experienced a dramatic rise in violence. Homicides\u00a0increased significantly<\/a>\u00a0in Seattle (up 75 percent), Minneapolis (up 72 percent), and Louisville (up 92 percent). Portland saw its murder toll go up by 52 percent. Chicago\u2019s homicides\u00a0jumped by 56 percent<\/a>\u00a0to 769 in 2020 while shootings went up 52 percent and carjackings doubled.<\/p>\n

Extending these figures nationally, 2020 counted at least 4,000 more murder victims than 2019\u2014exceeding 20,000 homicides for the\u00a0first time in 25 years<\/a>. That violence is measured both in victims\u2019 lives and in the unseen but very real economic cost to every American, especially the poor.<\/p>\n

Recent academic studies have placed the combined tangible and intangible costs of all crime at between\u00a0$690 billion and $3.4 trillion<\/a>\u00a0a year. Even a $1 trillion price tag would match\u00a0Florida\u2019s economic output<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to researchers Kathryn McCollister and Michael French of the University of Miami, and Hai Fang of the University of Colorado, the\u00a0total economic cost<\/a>\u00a0of a murder\u00a0(adjusted for inflation)<\/a>\u00a0is more than $11 million. Critically, murders and aggravated assaults together represent the lion\u2019s share (over 70 percent) of the cost of all crime. That would put 2020\u2019s murder tax at $220 billion\u2014$45 billion more than 2019. Similarly, aggravated assaults, including shootings, will tally at least another $120 billion in social costs.<\/p>\n

The social cost of homicide includes robbing families of breadwinners, burdening law enforcement, courts, and corrections systems, and depriving communities and citizens of peace of mind and opportunity. This staggering \u201cmurder tax\u201d is borne largely but those who can least afford to pay, America\u2019s urban poor.<\/p>\n

The financial advice site\u00a0MoneyGeek.com<\/a>\u00a0broke down the per resident costs in 2019 (before the spike) and found huge disparities across jurisdictions with over 100,000 residents.<\/p>\n

All crimes (both property and violent) levied a \u201ccrime tax\u201d of $8,179 on Baltimore residents in 2019 while similarly sized cities like Milwaukee, D.C., and Albuquerque paid less than half that\u2014around $3,500. Meanwhile, residents of equally populous Tucson paid 20 cents for every dollar crime cost Baltimoreans in 2019.<\/p>\n

Baltimore\u2019s cumulative crime tax bill ($4.9 billion) is 40 percent more than the\u00a0city\u2019s budget<\/a>\u00a0($3.5 billion), while Charm City\u2019s violence alone costs residents more than the city takes in in revenue annually.<\/p>\n

Some researchers<\/a>\u00a0conclude that\u00a0\u201cstanding down\u201d<\/a>\u00a0law enforcement or de-policing, often at the behest of political leaders,\u00a0allowed criminals to step into the void<\/a>. Last year in\u00a0New York City<\/a>, as homicides increased by 45 percent with\u00a0shootings up 97 percent<\/a>, arrests fell by more than 50 percent compared to 2019. A similar trend of police demoralization has correlated with dramatic spikes in Minneapolis, Seattle, and Portland.<\/p>\n

But residents of impoverished and often dangerous urban areas overwhelmingly want\u00a0more (53 percent) or the same (41 percent)<\/a>\u00a0police presence in their communities, not less, according to a poll conducted by Gallup for the Center for Advancing Opportunity.<\/p>\n

Yet, we know that more and\u00a0effective policing<\/a>\u00a0not only\u00a0reduces violence<\/a>, such a reduction pays economic dividends. As communities get safer, residents are less risk averse and economic activity increases as development and investment grow.<\/p>\n

One study<\/a>\u00a0even suggests that the return-on-investment in effective crime reduction strategies is a budget-saver, as expensive drains on public resources decline as economic activity increases tax revenues.\u00a0Another estimate<\/a>\u00a0suggests every $1 spent on policing yields $1.63 in reduced victim costs.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the crime tax costs jobs, reduces property values, deters investment, and undermines trust in public institutions, and, destroying opportunity, dashes hope for those who need it most.<\/p>\n

Crime may not pay but it certainly costs, a lot. Economically struggling Americans need relief, so let\u2019s start by cutting the most regressive tax of all\u2014violence.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My friend Sean Kennedy, a visiting fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute, has the specifics about how America’s unprecedented murder spike in 2020, fueled in part by coerced police pull-backs and partial de-funding, has brought catastrophic economic damage to those least able to withstand it.\u00a0 As Sean sums it up: [T]he crime tax costs jobs, reduces property values, deters investment, and undermines trust in public institutions\u00a0 —\u00a0 and, destroying opportunity, dashes hope for those who need it most….Crime may not pay but it certainly costs, a lot. Economically struggling Americans need relief, so let\u2019s start by cutting the most regressive tax of all\u2014violence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Massive "Murder Tax" on the Poor - Crime & Consequences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Massive "Murder Tax" on the Poor - Crime & Consequences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My friend Sean Kennedy, a visiting fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute, has the specifics about how America’s unprecedented murder spike in 2020, fueled in part by coerced police pull-backs and partial de-funding, has brought catastrophic economic damage to those least able to withstand it.\u00a0 As Sean sums it up: [T]he crime tax costs jobs, reduces property values, deters investment, and undermines trust in public institutions\u00a0 —\u00a0 and, destroying opportunity, dashes hope for those who need it most….Crime may not pay but it certainly costs, a lot. Economically struggling Americans need relief, so let\u2019s start by cutting the most regressive tax of all\u2014violence.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Crime & Consequences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CriminalJusticeLegalFoundation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-10T03:41:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/FB_DefaultLJ.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bill Otis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bill Otis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124\",\"name\":\"The Massive \\\"Murder Tax\\\" on the Poor - Crime & Consequences\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-10T03:41:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d089f7e65aa652190318c44070da5e6e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Massive “Murder Tax” on the Poor\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/\",\"name\":\"Crime & Consequences\",\"description\":\"Crime and criminal law\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d089f7e65aa652190318c44070da5e6e\",\"name\":\"Bill Otis\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Massive \"Murder Tax\" on the Poor - Crime & Consequences","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Massive \"Murder Tax\" on the Poor - Crime & Consequences","og_description":"My friend Sean Kennedy, a visiting fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute, has the specifics about how America’s unprecedented murder spike in 2020, fueled in part by coerced police pull-backs and partial de-funding, has brought catastrophic economic damage to those least able to withstand it.\u00a0 As Sean sums it up: [T]he crime tax costs jobs, reduces property values, deters investment, and undermines trust in public institutions\u00a0 —\u00a0 and, destroying opportunity, dashes hope for those who need it most….Crime may not pay but it certainly costs, a lot. Economically struggling Americans need relief, so let\u2019s start by cutting the most regressive tax of all\u2014violence.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124","og_site_name":"Crime & Consequences","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CriminalJusticeLegalFoundation\/","article_published_time":"2021-03-10T03:41:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/FB_DefaultLJ.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Bill Otis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bill Otis","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124","url":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124","name":"The Massive \"Murder Tax\" on the Poor - Crime & Consequences","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-03-10T03:41:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d089f7e65aa652190318c44070da5e6e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3124#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Massive “Murder Tax” on the Poor"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/","name":"Crime & Consequences","description":"Crime and criminal law","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d089f7e65aa652190318c44070da5e6e","name":"Bill Otis","url":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?author=6"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3124"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3125,"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3124\/revisions\/3125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}