Dear Future President,

Crime is a disease that every country has, and it is something that all countries are fighting against. There were an estimated 1,165,383 violent crimes that happened in the United States in the year 2014. I’m leaving you with the responsibility to make this number decrease(FBI.gov).  Mr/Mrs President this concerns me because I don’t see that anything is being done about it. You can help these cities by increasing their budget so that they can spend more on police officers and other security measures like more security cameras. You might think that right now crime is going to have to wait, that there are other important things to take care of. However you will find that everyone’s life including yours will be a lot safer by taking out crime, your job of making this country great again will just be a few steps away.

By reducing crime, you can solve other problems a lot faster and with less effort. Problems like making education better in low income communities. I don’t need to tell you that students learn better if they are not being threatened by gang members to join them or that they are going to beat him up. Students as well as teachers can concentrate more on education of they are not scared of their own students or classmates or that they fear walking home late at night. By having less crimes you will also have less murders which is one of the best reasons why you should work more on lowering the crime rates of the country. “As of December 23, a total of 12,942 people had been killed in the United States in 2015 in a gun homicide, unintentional shooting, or murder/suicide.” (The Trace) Those 13 thousand people that died mean there are 13 thousand families grieving for their lost loved one.

As a result of having less crime, the jails and prisons will be less crowded. Did you know that “The American criminal justice system holds more than 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 942 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,283 local jails, and 79 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment centers, and prisons in the U.S. territories” (Prisonpolicy.org). That is 2.3 million people that could be doing something to contribute to the society and as a result the whole country. Also Mr/Mrs President if the crime is controlled to a minimum it will mean that the number of jail inhabitants will decrease as well. As a result the federal government won't have to designate a big budget to jail but they could concentrate their budget on other necessities like public school funding and improvement and many more things. You are probably thinking that how much money do I think that federal government spends on jails that it will be so much money that you could improve the public schools of the whole country. Well you'll be surprised to see that in “2010, federal, state, and local agencies spent a combined $80 billion on corrections, or $260 per U.S. resident” also that “the report's total of $80 billion is in 2010 dollars, which $87 billion in today’s dollars” (CRFB.org). Again that is 87 billion dollars that you can spend on education and public facilities like airports and roads and bridges that also needs your attention it's not just immigration that needs your attention. You could also use that money to give more community services to all the communities in the country so that people won't need to commit crimes in order to survive.

Now some people may argue that crime has been decreasing gradually every year. According to the FBI’s 2014 edition of their annual report Crime in the United States they are correct. “This latest report reveals that the estimated number of violent crimes reported by law enforcement to UCR’s Summary Reporting System during 2014 decreased 0.2 percent when compared with 2013 data. And the estimated number of property crimes decreased 4.3 percent from 2013 levels..” However, while the crime rate might be going down nationally, in big cities like New York that is not the case. “In 2015: homicides were up 5.1%, rapes 6.3% and robberies 2.1%.”(WJS.com) That is only in New York City but many other major cities are suffering from the same problem, so there is still a big need for your assistance in lowering the crime rate nationwide.

Lastly, Mr/Mrs President you should work on making lowering crime your first priority. I know that you will do your best at solving the problem because you are the President of the United States after all. You know another reason for why you should take crime out is because people will remember you as the President that took out crime from the face of the United States Wouldn't that be great? Most importantly, the country will be safer and that so it will function and develop better without it.

Sincerely,

Respectfully, Juan A. Mejia