Strategic Policy and Technology for Effective Crime Reduction

Key Quotes

"if you don't enforce crime what you end up is with lost generations if i woke up in 10 years and all we had done was put a lot of people in prison it's actually double bad it's like you know throwing people away right like you know that's the worst possible thing so the best thing is to say hey look if you commit crimes you're going to get caught and then that kind of changes the societal incentives and the culture and everything else i mean look if i can become a criminal and make like 10x what i can make in a minimum wage job isn't that the thing like you know like and then in my neighborhood it's not even like there's no social stigma with it in fact like you're looked up upon if you're a criminal it's just too easy and it's just too much it's a societal failure for everybody who's in that situation"

Garrett Langley argues that failing to enforce laws leads to societal breakdown and lost generations. He explains that if criminal activity offers a significantly higher financial reward than legitimate work, and is even socially accepted, it creates a powerful incentive for individuals to engage in crime, indicating a broader societal failure.

"outside of vegas the international average is around 47 clearance rates you have a coin flip for murder you have a 53 chance of getting away with murder coin flip"

Ben Horowitz highlights the alarming statistics regarding crime clearance rates outside of Las Vegas. He points out that with an average clearance rate of around 47%, there is essentially a coin flip's chance of a murder being solved, indicating a significant failure in the justice system's ability to apprehend perpetrators.

"my part is when we do get criticisms people that are less familiar with technology i laugh because i'm like do you realize if the federal government wanted to find you a license plate reader is the dumbest way to do it i will just get a cell phone dump and i will know your exact location in real time at all times by the way which is what they do yes which is way more effective so i think for the privacy thing it's it's quite it's quite false"

Garrett Langley dismisses privacy concerns regarding license plate readers as misguided, arguing that more pervasive technologies like cell phone data collection are far more effective for surveillance. Langley suggests that the focus on license plate readers as a privacy threat is misplaced, as other methods offer greater tracking capabilities and are already in use.

"imagine if a major american city actually set a goal to eliminate crime not just manage it what would that take in practice and what would it feel like for the people who live there every day in today's episode we get as close to that question as you can in the real world"

Ben Horowitz frames the podcast episode's central question: what would it take for a city to actively aim for crime elimination rather than just containment. Horowitz sets the stage by suggesting that the discussion will explore practical strategies and the potential impact of such a goal on daily life within a city.

"i saw a funny quote online that the way they're going to solve our infertility issues is just to remove income tax once you have three kids i was like that's actually pretty novel we have a massive student debt problem right why not create a teach for america for law enforcement where you say look if you've got student debt and you go serve in your community for two years four years as a patrol officer crime analyst like there's a ton of roles you can have in a police department great we'll retire your student debt"

Garrett Langley proposes a "Teach for America" model for law enforcement to address the police staffing crisis. Langley suggests that offering to forgive student loan debt for individuals who commit to serving as police officers or crime analysts for a set period would incentivize recruitment and fill critical roles.

"the answer to that kind of policing is intelligence plus community policing right like like that's the right way to police you need and i'll give you an example so with the vegas police they said you know kind of if you look at it before the drone program before flock okay so if you don't have flock what happens you get a call there is a you know 1988 toyota corolla that was stolen and you know it's blue and it's driving you know this way okay so then a guy gets pulled over not the right guy"

Ben Horowitz explains that the effective solution to problematic policing is a combination of intelligence gathering and community engagement. Horowitz uses an example of how technology like Flock cameras and drones, integrated with police intelligence, can lead to more accurate apprehension of suspects, thereby reducing the likelihood of false stops and improving community relations.