officers - The Black Vault

FD-350 (Rev. 5·8·81)
.dicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
~OLUMN RIGHT/ ...
LLEWELLYN H. ROCKWELL
It's Safe Streets~
Versus
·Urban Terror.
~ .;
• In the '50s, rampant crime
· didn't exist because offenders
· feared. what the police would do.
I
f you offer a small boy one candy bar
now or 10 tomorrow, he'll grab the one.
That's because children have what economists
call a "high time preference." They
want it, and they want it now. The future is
a haze.
, The punishing of children must take this
mto account. One good whack on the
bottom can have an effect. A threat about
no TV all next year will not.
As we grow older, t)lis changes. We care
more, and think more, about the future. In
fact, this is the very process of maturation.
We plan, save, invest and put off today's
gratification until tomorrow.
But street criminals, as economist Murray
N. Rothbard points out, have the time
preference of depraved infants. The pros­
.pect of a jail sentenc~ 12 months from now
has virtually no effect,.
As recently as the 1950s-when street
crime was not rampant in America-the
police always operated on this principle:
No matter the vagaries of the court
system, a.mugger or rapist knew he faced a
trouncing-proportionate to the offense
and the offender- in the back of the paddy
wagon, and maybe ~ven a repeat performance
at the station house. As a result,
criminals were terrified of the cops, and
:.·our streets were safe. ·
.. · Today's criminals know that they probably
won't be convicted, and that if the are,
they face a short sentence-someday. The
· result is city terrorism, though we are
• seldom shown videos of old people being
.mugged, women being raped, gangs shoot-
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Da~:: SUN, MARCH 10, 1991
Edlllon:OPINION SECTION, PAGE 5
Title:
r~ .....
ing drivers at random or store clerks
havmg theJr throats sht.
What we do see, over and over again, is
the tape of some Los Angeles-area cops
giving the what-for to an ex-con. It is not a
pleasant sight, of course; neither is cancer
surgery. .
Did they hit him too many times? Sure,
but that's not the issue: It's safe streets
versus urban terror, and why we have
moved from one to the other.
Liberals talk about banning guns. As a
libertarian, I can't agree. I am, however,
~ beginning to wonder about video cameras.
, LleweUyn H. RockweU Jr. is president of
; the Ludwig von Mises Institute, an economics
think tank in A uhurn, Ala. .
IT'S SAFE STREETS VERSl
URBAN TERROR
Character:
or
ClassHication:
Submitting Office:
I.OS ANGELES
CIVIL RIGHTS
8 0-3 3 B
Indexing:
~Srn~R~CH~ffi~----~JNOM~~EOn-----,
SERIAU~EO·---- fljjO. ____ ,
MAR 18 1991
FBI -
LOS ANGELES _L
IALZl
'Today's crjmina·ls know they
probably won't be convicted. If
the are, they face a short
sentence-s~meday.'
FBI !OOJ