Securing citizens against crime should be the first priority of government. Yet only about 6.8 percent of total state and local spending goes for police protection and corrections.

The inner-city poor are most severely victimized by crime - and are most in need of protection against criminals. African-Americans are especially exposed to crime.

• One out of every 30 African-American men will be murdered - six times the risk for Anglo-American men - and murder is the leading cause of death among urban African-American males.

• The average African-American is twice as likely as an Anglo-American to be robbed and 40 percent more likely to be burglarized, and an African-American woman is two and one-half times as likely to be raped.

• In a study of inner-city Baltimore, 24 percent of teenagers had actually witnessed a murder, and 72 percent knew someone who had been shot.

Poor households not only suffer the highest victimization rates for property and personal crimes but also suffer the greatest economic impact.

• Studies indicate that each 1 percent increase in the crime rate results in a 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent drop in home values.

• The extra costs in losses from crime, costs of insurance and costs of private security doom many small businesses striving to serve residents of high-crime areas.

Source: Tex Lezar, "Fighting Crime: the Recent Past as a Guide to the Future," in Tex Lezar, ed., Making Government Work (San Antonio: Texas Public Policy Foundation, 1992).

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