Crime in the 1990s: A National Crisis

 By Jordyn Forte

In the early-to-mid 1990s, crime was seen as out of control by the public. 

In 1994 – the year in which crime rates peaked – FBI crime databases report that there were 1,857,670 violent crimes committed, 23,326 of which were murders. 

That year in Massachusetts, there were 37,394 violent crimes committed in 1994, according to an annual policy brief issued by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, 

Brockton Police Chief Emanuel Gomes recalls this era of crime with clarity.

"In the mid-90s, we found ourselves in the middle of the crack epidemic and all other socio-economic issues. Crime was through the roof. There was a lot of gang activity and some of the highest murder counts that have yet to be matched, even today,” Gomes said.

“Most of the murders in Brockton [during that time period] were involving the drug trade. Drug rip-offs and robberies resulting in murders were very common,” Gomes said. 

As former Massachusetts State Police road trooper with the Massachusetts State Police, current Stonehill College Police Chief David Wordell’s memory of crime in the 1990s parallels that of Gomes.

“I recall both New Bedford and Fall River having issues with cocaine and heroin during that time. During patrol, we always concentrated on areas and neighborhoods in the cities that were known for either selling drugs, or locations where people would use the drugs shortly after purchasing them because of their violence,” Wordell said.

Increasingly strict legal punishment was utilized as a method of control.

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 was passed which, some said,  incentivized imprisonment.

 According to the Brennan Center for Justice, for a period of time in the 1990s, a new prison was opened approximately every 15 days.

 “Government officials did not want to look soft on crime,” Dana Curhan, a former assistant district attorney in Bristol County who is now in private practice specializing in appellate work, said.

 “Especially,” Curhan added, “because the government adopted a ‘lets-get-tough on crime’ mentality.”

Over the past two decades, however, there has been a drastic decline in crime.

In fact, according to the Brennan Center for Justice,  the crime rate is less than half of what it was in 1991.

 This decrease in crime is not attributed to the justice system’s response of more severe punishment, though, an analysis  by the United States Department of Justice found. The DOJ  analyzed more than 40-years of data from 50 states to reach that conclusion.

 Imprisoning people didn’t cut crime, one study found.

 The National Institute of Corrections found that “over-harsh criminal justice policies, particularly increased incarceration, which rose even more dramatically over the same periods, were not the drivers of the crime decline. Increased incarceration has [actually] been declining its effectiveness as a crime control tactic for more than 30 years, [and] its effect on crime rates since 1990 has been limited and has been non-existent since 2000.” 

Despite  these declining numbers, the Pew Research Center reports that the United States still has the highest incarceration rate in the world.

William Allen, a Massachusetts native, was one of those charged and convicted during the height of the crime crackdown. 

In 1994, Allen admitted he participated in a robbery where someone was killed.

On the night of February 7, Allen was with a friend, Rolando “Mike” Perry,  and robbed another man named Purvis Bester at a Brockton apartment. 

In the course of the robbery, Perry fatally stabbed Bester.

Allen rejected the advice of his lawyer and refused to take a plea deal where he would plead guilty to second degree murder, a sentence carrying life with the possibility of parole after 15 years. He went to trial instead.

While Allen didn’t stab the victim to death, he was tried for murder under the joint venture theory. Under this, the prosecution needed to prove Allen was a participant in the robbery which resulted in the murder. The jury convicted him of first degree murder.

Perry took the deal and was eventually paroled in 2009. Allen remained in prison

 “Mr. Allen has expressed his deep remorse for participating in this crime,” Rashaan D. Hall, the director of the Racial Justice Program at ACLU and an advocate and volunteer for the Second Chance Justice Organization, said.

“Since being incarcerated, he has also done many good things,” Hall added.

Allen's supporters said despite the progress and growth that he’s made, Allen’s only opportunity at a life outside of prison is if he is granted a commutation by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. 

And, in Massachusetts, clemency is difficult to obtain.

Since taking office in January of 2015, Governor Baker has only approved one commutation. Allen's supporters say they hope to change that and win Allen's release.