g trade, and may even be counterproductive. (Zimmy 35) Time magazine, 1997 said that 52% of Americans do not believe the death penalty deters people from committing crime. In a recent poll of police chiefs, 2/3 said they do not believe that the death penalty deters crime it is used as a political football by politicians. Some people arent afraid of dying, either. They have realized that everyone must die, so they have no fear of dying at any moment of time. This fact also forbids the death penalty from being 100% effective. In Britain, 167 people were on death row. 164 of them said they witnessed at least one execution before they committed their crime. They committed the crime even though they had seen an execution before and execution didnt scare them.Since the death penalty has no effect on the deterioration of crime, what does? New York lowered crime rates by putting more police officers in the street, not by longer jail terms or the death penalty. This was effective because if one thinks about it, if one was to rob a store, first he would look around to see if any police officers were around, and if he sees one riding around the block and another patrolling the streets, he would think twice about it. Of course, hiring more police officers will cost a lot of money, but that will only be temporary. Criminal held in prison for long sentences means money now and more money later. Also, the availability of handguns plays a major role in murder rates. It is a lot easier to kill someone by putting one bullet in their head then beating them, stabbing or strangling (there are chances they can be alive) if we decrease the availability of handguns by increasing the price or banning the sale. There will be less murders. Another thought is that slavery should be used as a punishment for crimes. If all the miserable moments of a slaves life were put together it would be more painful then any kind of punishment. In 1995 Hart Re...
