Читать книгу Criminology For Dummies - Steven Briggs - Страница 69

The cost of crime in the United States is difficult to quantify, but a low-end estimate puts the cost near $690 billion annually, which comes out to more than $2,000 per citizen. Some criminologists refer to this cost as a “crime tax” because of its negative effect on the economy. This $690 billion figure includes lost wages and productivity, property loss, medical bills, an estimate of the cost of pain and suffering, and long-term disability costs.

If the cost of crime in the aggregate is too overwhelming, consider the cost to an individual such as a victim in a convenience store robbery who takes a bullet in the chest. He may not have health insurance to cover the hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. He probably doesn’t have disability insurance to keep providing an income while he’s in the hospital, either. If his wife has a job, she may have to take time off to care for him, which means they’ll lose some, if not all, of her income, too. Because of crime, a family can quickly suffer economic disaster through no fault of their own.