PROSECUTORS APPEAL TO PUBLIC TO HELP STOP CRIME WAVE
Albany, New York (JFK+50) On January 11, 1922, "federal, state and county" prosecutors "appealed to the public to co-operate with the authorities in checking the prevalence of crime."
The officers of the Court, meeting in session here in Albany, "declared that one of the causes...is the substitution of sentiment for sanity in the prosecution of criminals."
Prosecutors criticized judges "who abuse the probation and suspended sentence system." They also were critical of citizens who "wink at violation of some laws."
The meeting is part of a nationwide effort by Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty* to "jail the food and fuel profiteers."
*Harry M. Daugherty (1860-1941) was born in Washington Court House, Ohio & served as U.S. Attorney General under Presidents Harding & Coolidge. HMD was part of "the Ohio Gang" implicated in the Teapot Dome Scandal.
JFK+50 NOTE
The decade of the Twenties would become known for the growth of organized crime centering on the illegal manufacture, transport and sale of liquor. Reading this news article from early 1922, it seems "food and fuel profiteers" were leading the nation in crime.
Certainly, the public's winking at some law violations could well apply to Prohibition. It has been said that more liquor was manufactured, transported & consumed during that era than any other.
More recently, the 1990s statistically show the highest number of crimes reported in the United States at 136,400,000. According to World Atlas, the rate of violent crimes quadrupled following WWII & reached their peaks between 1960 & 1992.
SOURCE
"Public Called To Help Fight Crime Wave," The New York Tribune, January 12, 1922, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
"World Atlas," www.worldatlas.com/
