Crime trend experts said they expected politicians to overplay the significance of the new numbers and to react with “hysteria”. “You lost 50lb. You gained back a couple. You’re not fat,” said Jeffrey Butts, the director of the Research & Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look at your behavior, because the trend is not good.” Continue reading The Guardian—Murders up 10.8% in Biggest Percentage Increase Since 1971, FBI Data Shows

Para Jeffrey Butts, director del Centro de Investigación del John Jay College de Justicia Criminal, la respuesta ciudadana tiene que ver la viralidad con que se han propagado en internet los testimonios gráficos de estas muertes. “Antes pasaban años entre uno de estos casos emblemáticos y otro; ahora nos enteramos de cada uno de ellos”, explica a Verne Butts. “Esta narrativa personal mueve a las personas más que estadísticas llenas de datos”, añade. De hecho, los disturbios de Ferguson (Misuri), donde murió Brown, figuran entre los temas más comentados del año en Facebook y en Twitter. Cuando habla de “narrativa personal”, Butts se refiere a vídeos como el de la muerte de Garner, en la que se veía al agente Daniel Pantaleo reduciendo hasta estrangular a Garner por vender cigarrillos sueltos mientras éste repetía “No puedo respirar”. Continue reading El País—BlackLivesMatter: Nueve Nombres y Tres Vídeos Virales para Entender por qué EEUU Está tan Enfadado

CBS reports that in Pennsylvania, on teacher was hit so hard he collapsed head first on a concrete curb. A man from New York City was punched and knocked out cold. Jeffrey Butts of John Jay College told CBS that he thinks the game is popular amongst teenagers trying to prove their manhood but who in the end just prove that they are ‘still children.’ Continue reading Daily Mail—Latest Victim of Sinister ‘Knockout Game’?

For those not convinced by talk of wishy-washy, chummy restorative justice, perhaps the facts will be convincing. A study by the Urban Institute in America determined that 6% of youths who have gone through the youth court system re-offend, compared to 18% in conventional juvenile courts. Continue reading The Herald—Youthful Idea to Solve an Old Problem

Au moins quarante-quatre États américains ont promulgué depuis 1992 des lois permettant de juger des adolescents comme des adultes. Selon Jeffrey Butts, chercheur à l’Urban Institute de Washington, les peines obligatoires de rigueur et le durcissement du système judiciaire juvénile engendrent des sentences ” surprenantes ” : ” Nous avons repoussé les limites de la culpabilité et de la responsabilité.” Continue reading l’Humanité – Le juge et l’enfant

Perhaps the most compelling argument against curfews is that there is no evidence they work. Many boasts have been made by policemen and mayors, says Jeffrey Butts of the Urban Institute, a think-tank, but most of their curfews have merely been riding the wave of declining crime rates across America. He insists that there is no substantive research that shows a link between curfews and reduced crime. Continue reading The Economist – Lights Out: Crime Prevention