Smart on Crime: Invest in Kids
It isn’t just the usual suspects who are urging legislators to take a different approach to national crime issues. A coalition of police, prosecutors and crime victims has formed a group called Fight Crime: Invest in Kids.
Its focus is to lobby for programs, such as preschool, that demonstrably make a difference in steering children away from criminal activities, writes Jerry Large in a Seattle Times column. A study in Michigan showed, for instance, that low-income kids who didn’t attend preschool were five times as likely to be chronic lawbreakers by age 27.
Legislators worry that they will be perceived as soft on crime if they don’t take a punitive approach. But pointing out that police support the proposal helps avoid that problem, Large writes. “Their voices will help legislators make better choices.”
