According to the article, there are several factors which cause high crime rate at San
Bernardino. Reduced sentences for criminals, shortage of local law enforcement and
lack of job opportunities are reasons to blame. The shortage of job opportunities
contributes to city’s violence. Many of the basic services are no longer available in
the neighborhood; it proportionally increases city’s unemployment. When people
face difficult to find the job for living, it will force them to seek risk of survival.
City of San Bernardino has financial turmoil during the 2008 depression, also
declared bankruptcy in 2012. Due to the financial issue, the city to reduce the size of
the Police Department. The local law enforcement troops have decreased repeatedly
since 2009. At the same time, the reduction of drug and property-related felonies to
misdemeanors has leaded to shorter sentences for criminals. When the chain of
causality happens, it is hard to define which is factor to cause the crime raise. The
poorer community usually gets lower tax income, the lower city budget causes
shortage of the local officers, eventually the crime rate raises due to these factors.
Some researchers believe that the high violent crime rates found in African American
communities reflects high levels of poverty in these areas. From my perspective, I
don’t agree with that theory. I believe that culture and the integrity of the
community play much more important role than the poverty. I met several friends in
college, who grew up at poor neighborhood in Stockton and Merced. Their parents
who are first generation immigrant speak limited English and try to support their
family by doing several jobs. They are able to teach their kids with integrity, dignity
and ability to pursue higher education. Those characters help my friends and their
family to leave high crime community, however most of the African American don’t
get that kind of characters. It explains why many African American families stay in