Crime, Criminality, Prisons, and Punishment - Think Tank Topic

No real think tank can be legitimate without addressing the serious issue of crime in human society. Indeed criminal activity, corruption, and unethical behavior may be an innate part of the human species, that is to say deception seems to be hardwired into the human brain, but it needs to be minimized if we are all going to get along together and make this all work. That is if indeed, we are to have a cohesive society and civilization which will be ongoing.

Not long ago, I was discussing this with an acquaintance, who also believes that crime is a serious issue. Is it the most serious issue of all? Perhaps, or perhaps not, but it does affect every single thing we do in our society, it permeates all industries and is pervasive in all aspects of government. It is a real challenge and a real problem, however it may not be as bad as we think. Often the media in their haste to cause chaos and controversy, and sell more newspapers blows many of the criminal events out of proportion.

Crime in the United States has gone down, but recently I have wondered if future solar flares will increase human brain activity, agitation, and therefore aggression. In other words, during times of solar minimums there is less crime and during times of solar maximum there is more crime, and more conflict, perhaps even more wars in the world.

On another related topic consider this; due to the fact that we have digital cell phones, and everyone carries them around, it's much more difficult for a criminal to get away with something than it was in the past. And because of this fewer criminals are willing to commit acts because they know they will be caught. Still, crime presently in the United States is at an all time low, except for the drug violence that is coming from over the border.

Normally when foreclosure rates go up 1% crime climbs by 2.2% for every 1% additional, however there seems to be anomaly in the data this time around, and the foreclosure rate is at an all-time high but there is a divergence between this trend, when looking at past data. Many criminologists have asked why.

Perhaps, some of that has to do with the television shows of detectives, crime work, and forensics, meaning that people are too afraid to get caught because they think the forensics will catch them because of their DNA, and therefore, the only crimes that occur are ones that are planned out weeks in advance, but since most crimes are done spur of the moment. And a lot of them just don't end up happening because the risk/reward, or the risk of being caught is just too great. Of course, this is all speculation with no empirical evidence to back me up, but it is something to consider.

The computers are getting better and the GIS/GPS systems with data interfaced artificial intelligence software is helping city police departments know where crime may occur, it also helps the FBI with probability and that means resources can be used more wisely. The only thing we have to worry about is that we may someday not have enough for criminals to support the huge amount of police force that we have, but as we create more laws, we inevitably create more criminals, and it becomes a vicious circle.

Many people want to decriminalize things like drugs and other things, while others wish to increase the laws to make certain hate speech a crime. Eventually we have too many rules and too many laws, and therefore, we have fewer freedoms, and it's something we need to watch. It really appears that we are graduating far too many criminal justice majors in the United States from our colleges and universities. This is also a problem. I hope you will consider all this.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes it's hard to write 20,000 articles; http://www.bloggingcontent.net/ - Note: All of Lance Winslow's articles are written by him, not by Automated Software, any Computer Program, or Artificially Intelligent Software. None of his articles are outsourced, PLR Content or written by ghost writers.

Texas prisons' top investigator leaves life of true crime stories

By Mike Ward

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

The minute serial killer Kenneth McDuff walked into a Texas prison interview room complaining about a toothache, investigator John Moriarty knew he had the edge he'd been waiting for.

"I got up and went into the warden's office and got him to the head of the list to see the dentist the next morning," explained Moriarty, a stocky 53-year-old with a New York accent. McDuff soon told investigators where he had dumped the body of Austinite Colleen Reed, one of 14 people authorities believe he might have killed.

That ended one of the state's most publicized unsolved crimes. McDuff was executed in November 1998.

"With guys like him, you got no twist on them. He was on death row. He'd look at you, and you knew he was thinking, 'What's in this for me?'" Moriarty said. "That's how it works in prison."

If anyone knows how things work behind bars, it's probably Moriarty, who has spent the past 22 years investigating crimes there, 10 of them as the agency's inspector general, the top cop, and only the second IG the agency has had.

On Aug. 31, Moriarty plans to retire and go fishing. His replacement has not been named.

During his colorful career, the gruff, mustachioed investigator has busted suspects on both sides of the bars: from felons with smuggled cellphones to top prison officials involved in the VitaPro prison food contracting scandal of the 1990s.

"When I got to Texas, I knew this job was going to be different. I didn't know how different," Moriarty said of a career in which death threats were routine.

To many Texans, from white-uniformed convicts to the big shots at the state Capitol, Moriarty is the no-nonsense Sergeant Friday of Texas' prison system, a man who is both respected and feared. Walking into a prison a few years ago, he was quickly recognized by guards. "Someone's probably going to jail today," one remarked to a reporter. Same for convicts: "If he shows up, you already been got," said one.

Moriarty rolls his eyes at the story.

"You're not writing traffic tickets in there. You're dealing with major bad people every day," he said. "If you've done bad, we're coming after you. That's our job."

Indeed, the job description reads like a script for a cop reality show: Witness executions to make sure the state's procedures are followed, supervise the capture of escapees, bust lawbreakers for new crimes committed inside the gritty world of prisons.

By most accounts, he's been successful, but the key to his effectiveness is difficult to pin down.

"He has a look — his eyes tell you that he wants to help you but you've got to tell him the truth, probably 'cause he already knows it," said Jerry Peña, a retired federal undercover officer who worked with Moriarty on several federal cases inside Texas prisons. "It's a talent that a lot of officers don't have, something that makes him effective at what he does. That New York accent is part of it."

Longtime Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, whose legislative panel oversees Texas' sprawling prison system, said he has learned firsthand how Moriarty works. Just a few years ago, when a condemned killer on death row called Whitmire on a smuggled cellphone, he immediately alerted Moriarty.

Richard Lee Tabler and two relatives were subsequently arrested, triggering a lockdown of all state prisons for three weeks that brought about the seizure of hundreds of cellphones and other contraband — and rocketed Texas to the forefront in a national campaign to allow prisons to jam cellphone signals.

"He's a can-do guy, a no-nonsense guy," Whitmire said. "He gets to the bottom of things."

Born in New York City, the son of Irish immigrants "who were just off the boat," Moriarty grew up in the Bronx. His father worked for a chemical company; his mother was a waitress.

Long route to Texas

After graduating from a Catholic high school, he worked in construction and then took a job as a park ranger in New Jersey, writing tickets. Just over a year later, federal funding was cut and Moriarty got laid off.

"I liked law enforcement — what can I tell you?" he said. "I had never been west of Philadelphia. But Wyoming was recruiting. So I took a job out there."

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