The current climate of financial constraints will have a dramatic Essay

The current climate of financial constraints will have a dramatic impact on investigating crime Examine this assertion - Essay Example The recession has affected every segment of society especially the working class. When people are without work for a prolonged period of time, even honest citizens sometimes turn to crime to pay their bills mostly in urban areas. In such situations, the resources of the crime prevention agencies are usually focused on serious or violent crimes, and they usually ignore lesser offences such as burglaries due the scarcity of manpower and other resources such as cars for patrolling, or even clerical personnel for filing in report or preparing the paperwork to present the cases for court proceedings. In the absence of police personnel on the streets, minor arguments may escalate to shootouts or stabbings because the presence of police usually acts as a deterrent and prevents the situation from escalating. Other crimes such as auto thefts, shoplifting, provoked and aggravated assault, property crime, gang wars, murders, domestic battery, aggravated burglary, fraud, rape and kidnapping all are on the increase due to the cutbacks in police budgets. Besides having an adequate number of personnel, other things that are essential for effective policing are vehicles, monitoring and tracking equipment (Moro, 2012). Computer systems for maintaining records and other paperwork. Funds are also needed to hire additional civilian personnel on a temporary basis or to pay off informants who are an essential part of any police network. The police department needs forensics laboratories, equipment and chemicals and qualified staff to man these laboratories. Then too offenders who are apprehended need facilities such as beds in the lock ups and prisons, before they are released on bail, or if they are not released on bail they do require other facilities such as food, medicine and police personnel for keeping a watch over these prisoners so that they do not riot and kill each