Analysis Of The Operation Ceasefire

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It can be traced back that Thomas Hobbes first formulated the idea of deterrence. Advocates of deterrence theory “believe that people choose to obey or violate the law after calculating the gains and consequences of their actions” (Onwudiwe, Odo, Onyeozili). Essentially, as stated above, individuals will engage in crime when the benefit of the crime outweighs the cost of committing the crime (punishment). Personally, I believe that individuals that are part of the Operation Ceasefire end their “street days” because they are mostly scared of the harsh consequences that will follow if they continue to engage in a life of crime. Operation Ceasefire may align well with theories such as deterrence theory, but maybe not so much with others. When …show more content…

This theory simply argues that individuals will eventually engage in crime because the build up of certain strains placed on them by society. This is why those individuals who continue to engage in crime after being part of Ceasefire do so. Arguably, officials and law enforcement personal place too much a strain on these individuals to simply “cease” their crime careers. Further, maybe these officials place much to high of goals for these individuals to achieve. It is important to understand that the individuals that are part of Operation Ceasefire are hardened criminals or future criminals. These are guys that dropped out of school, their dad is in prison, and have lived in poverty their entire life. In other words, for their entire lives they have had a tremendous strain placed upon them. So when law enforcement agencies and city officials try to “scare” these men out of committing crime, it may work for a little while but eventually the strain will prove to be too much, thus ending in further committing …show more content…

However, how a community goes about dealing with this issue is controversial. According to the Office of Justice Programs, Operation Ceasefire “seeks to reduce gang violence, illegal gun possession, and gun violence in communities.” Officials for Operation Ceasefire advocate for local law enforcement to vamp up patrols in areas where violent crime is common. However, this could be an unintended consequence for those who live in these areas that don’t engage in violence. Essentially, maybe individuals in the community will not like the increased police patrols and will retaliate in a deviant manner. Also, it is important to understand that not all individuals get “chosen” to be part of Operation Ceasefire. Maybe those who don’t pass the screening process to partake will act out. In other words, when they see their friends partaking in the intervention and doing well, those who don’t get chosen may respond in a deviant manner. These are just a few unintended consequences that may be expected when communities implement this

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