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Security theater vs. crime fighting reality during an era of tight budgets

A couple of seemingly unrelated articles - one on the relative effectiveness of "Amber Alerts" and one on the backlog of untested rape kits in Harris County dating to 1986 - included argumentation themes that struck me as connected in the context of the current budget crunch. A Dallas News story today included this debate about the Amber Alert program:Donna Norris echoes a sentiment voiced by many Amber Alert supporters."If it saves one child's life, that tells me that it does work," she said.[Dr. Timothy] Griffin, who is in the process of another study of the alert's effectiveness, said that the viewpoint of Norris and others weakens the argument in support of the Amber Alert's reach."I have no problem with people saying if the Amber Alert helps save just one child's life, it's worth it...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on January 13, 2011 (boomark / email).