columbus dispatch Gun violence in Ohio is costing scores of lives and millions of dollars annually across the state, though much of it happens in the largest cities, according to a newspaper analysis published Sunday. The Columbus Dispatch analyzed state records and data from 2009, which offer the most recent statewide statistics available. It found guns were present in more than 12,500 incidents investigated by authorities, an average of 34 per day. Four-fifths of those happened in seven of Ohio’s largest cities: Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown.
The numbers illustrate the scope of gun violence, but it’s an incomplete picture because the crime data was submitted voluntarily by agencies that cover only about 70 percent of Ohio’s population. Ohio had 502 reported slayings in 2009 and 62 percent involved guns, according to the FBI. Firearms also were used in 41 percent of robberies and 24 percent of aggravated assaults. "If the citizens knew what we know, they’d never leave their house," a Columbus officer recently told the newspaper at the scene of a gun crime. In addition to the loss of life, gun violence can lead to huge medical expenses, some of which is paid by taxpayers through government programs.
A report last year by the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital determined firearm injuries in Ohio lead to an average of about $37 million annually in inpatient hospital charges, the newspaper reported. Some of those expenses are for suspected criminals injured in the violence. "We’re going to deal with them one way or another," said Gregory Jefferson, president and CEO of Community for New Direction, a Columbus urban-outreach organization. "We’re either going to pay for them in prison, or we’re going to pay for them for the hospitalization of the injuries. All of those costs get passed on to us."
No comments:
Post a Comment