This project looks at crime and how the budget can play a role in decreasing crime rates. Throughout history, punishment has been used as a way to deter people from committing crimes, whether this is through physical punishment, incarceration, fines, etc… After analyzing crime rates of both the US and North Carolina, for the most part it shows that they have been declining over the past decade. When you compare these crime rates to the government’s budget, it shows that if funds are allocated to the right programs, a decrease in crime will follow. This project first starts by looking at what North Carolina’s Governor, Beverly Perdue, did to the budget while she was in office. The reasoning for focusing on her budget is because each year that she was in office there was a decrease in crime. To further dive into this topic, the project shifts to other research where it highlights additional opportunities in which the budget can be allocated to help decrease the crime rate. This research also provides a hypothesis to fund these allocations by lowering the incarceration rates for individuals that do commit crimes. After doing the research, it becomes evident that using the budget as a tool to decrease crime rates can be very effective, as long as it is allocated correctly.
