PRESENTED BY IRA A. LIPMAN
CHAIRMAN
GUARDSMARK, INC.
CHAIRMAN
PEOPLEMARK, INC.
TO THE HOLLAND ROTARY CLUB
HOLIDAY INN
HOLLAND, MICHIGAN

JULY 19, 1990

THANK YOU.
I AM PLEASED AND HONORED TO BE HERE TODAY. I HAVE BEEN TO MICHIGAN A NUMBER OF TIMES, BOTH FOR BUSINESS REASONS AND BECAUSE OF A RELATIONSHIP THAT GOES BACK 25 YEARS WITH MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY’S EXCELLENT SCHOOL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE.
BUT THIS IS MY FIRST VISIT TO THE HOLLAND/ZEELAND AREA, AND I AM GREATLY IMPRESSED WITH THE COMMUNITY PRIDE THAT I HAVE SEEN. THIS IS A WONDERFUL AREA IN WHICH TO LIVE AND WORK AND RAISE A FAMILY, AND ALL INVOLVED IN CIVIC, ECONOMIC, AND COMMUNITY LIFE HERE CAN BE JUSTLY PROUD OF WHAT THEY HAVE ACCOMPLISHED.
MUST REMEMBER THAT THE WAY TO ENSURE PROGRESS IS TO GUARANTEE PRESERVATION, BECAUSE TAKING ONE STEP FORWARD DOES LITTLE GOOD IF A COMMUNITY IS AT THE SAME TIME BEING PUSHED TWO STEPS BACK BY FORCES THAT ARE BEYOND ITS CONTROL. AND PRESERVATION OF A WAY OF LIFE, OF OUR TRADITIONAL VALUES AS THEY ARE EXPRESSED IN OUR INSTITUTIONS, OF HOW WE ORGANIZE OUR SOCIETY AND REGULATE OUR RELATIONSHIPS, IS THE VERY BASIS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PRIVATE SECURITY.
COMMUNITIES LIKE YOURS-SECURE IN THEIR HERITAGE AND STRONG IN TRADITIONAL VALUES-ARE THREATENED BY NOTHING SO MUCH AS THEY ARE BY CRIME. BECAUSE CRIME BY ITS VERY NATURE DESTROYS RELATIONSHIPS, TRAMPLES ON VALUES, AND REPLACES A SENSE OF SECURITY WITH A FEELING OF FEAR. POLARITIES BECOME REVERSED, AND WHAT ONCE ATTRACTED BEGINS TO REPEL. PEOPLE MOVE OUT OF THE CENTRAL CITY, THE CORE DECAYS, AND A WAY OF LIFE CHANGES ALMOST BEYOND RECOGNITION.
CAPITAL, THERE ARE ALMOST AS MANY STREET-LEVEL DRUG DEALERS- 24,000-AS THERE ARE PEOPLE IN HOLLAND. HOW DOES A CITY LIVE WITH FOUR PERCENT OF ITS PEOPLE DEALING DRUGS? IMAGINE FOUR PERCENT OF YOUR CITIZENS PUSHING DRUGS ON THE STREET. THAT’S MORE THAN 1,100 PEOPLE. WHAT WOULD THAT DO TO YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE?
CRIME DESTROYS WHATEVER IT TOUCHES. IN HARLEM, IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR NATION’S GREATEST CITY, A YOUNG BLACK MAN IS LESS LIKELY TO LIVE TO THE AGE OF 40 THAN A YOUNG MAN BORN IN BANGLADESH. IN BANGLADESH, A YOUNG PERSON FACES ONLY THE RAVAGES OF NATURE, LIKE TIDAL WAVES AND DISEASE. BUT A YOUNG MAN IN HARLEM HAS A WORSE ENEMY-A MAN ARMED WITH A GUN AND DESPERATE FOR DRUGS. IN FACT, FOR YOUNG BLACK MEN IN THE UNITED STATES, HOMICIDE IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH.
BETWEEN 15 AND 24-WHATEVER THEIR COLOR-IS AN ASTOUNDING 21.9 PER 100,000. THE RATE IN 21 OTHER INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS RANGES FROM A LOW OF 0.3 IN AUSTRIA TO A HIGH OF 5.0 IN SCOTLAND. YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED TO KNOW THAT COMPARED TO OUR RATE OF 21.9, THE RATE FOR THE NETHERLANDS IS ONLY 1.4.
THE UNITED STATES HAS ALWAYS BEEN A VIOLENT NATION. WE WERE BORN IN REVOLUTION, CUT OUR TEETH WHILE TAMING A WILD CONTINENT, AND TESTED OUR MANHOOD WITH THE SIX-GUN AND THE BOWIE KNIFE. FROM THE WILD WEST HEROICS OF WYATT EARP TO THE CELLULOID CREATIONS OF JOHN WAYNE, VIOLENCE AND MEN OF VIOLENCE ARE PART OF BOTH OUR PAST AND OUR PRESENT. UNFORTUNATELY, IT SEEMS THAT VIOLENCE WILL PLAY AN EVEN LARGER PART IN OUR FUTURE. LAST YEAR VIOLENT CRIME ROSE 5 PERCENT, ON TOP OF A 5 PERCENT INCREASE IN 1988.
BUT PERHAPS EVEN MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN THE RISING RATE OF CRIME IS OUR INCREASED UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IT COSTS US AS A SOCIETY. NOT ONLY IN TERMS OF THE INTANGIBLES, SUCH AS THE QUALITY OF LIFE, THE FEAR, AND THE DISTRUST. BUT ALSO IN TERMS OF WHAT IS MOST TANGIBLE TO SOMEONE TRYING TO RUN A BUSINESS: THE BOTTOM LINE.
EMPLOYEE THEFT COSTS AMERICAN BUSINESSES $50 BILLION A YEAR. TIME THEFT ALONE-FAKE SICK DAYS, TAKING CARE OF PERSONAL BUSINESS, EXTENDED LUNCH HOURS, AND SO ON-COSTS US $100 BILLION A YEAR. DRUG ABUSE BY EMPLOYEES COSTS US UP TO $75 BILLION A YEAR. OUR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS LOSE MORE THAN $1.2 BILLION A YEAR TO FRAUD AND EMBEZZLEMENT. AND MORE THAN HALF OF THOSE FEDERAL VIOLATIONS ARE BY OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES. WHAT THE S&L SCANDAL WILL COST EACH OF US INDIVIDUALLY-AND THE EXTENT OF FRAUD THAT WAS INVOLVED- ARE STILL MATTERS OF WILD CONJECTURE.
CONSUMERS. FOR EXAMPLE, INTERNAL THEFT ALONE CAUSES FROM 5 TO 30 PERCENT OF ALL OUR BUSINESS FAILURES EACH YEAR. THE RESULTING ECONOMIC LOSS IN JOBS AND TAX REVENUES SIMPLY CANNOT BE MEASURED.
RISING CRIME RATES AND A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE COST OF CRIME HAVE HAD ANOTHER WIDE-RANGING EFFECT ON US AND OUR WAY OF LIFE. WE ARE BECOMING AN INCREASINGLY PUNITIVE SOCIETY, NO LONGER CERTAIN THAT THERE IS GOOD IN EVERYONE, NO LONGER SURE THAT WE- LIKE LUKE SKYWALKER-CAN RESCUE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN SEDUCED BY THE DARK SIDE OF THE FORCE, AND NO LONGER CARING VERY MUCH THAT OUR OPTIMISM HAS FADED.
MORE THAN 2,300. LAST WEEK THE SENATE PASSED A BILL THAT WOULD ADD 11 FEDERAL CAPITAL OFFENSES TO THE 23 ALREADY ON THE BOOKS. AND THE SUPREME COURT HAS CLEARED THE WAY FOR THE EXECUTION OF MENTALLY RETARDED AND TEENAGE CONVICTS.
THE PUNITIVE REACTION TO CRIME CAN ALSO BE SEEN IN THE RECORD NUMBER OF INMATES BEING HELD ACROSS THE COUNTRY. OUR LOCAL JAILS NOW HOLD MORE THAN TWICE AS MANY PRISONERS AS THEY DID TEN YEARS AGO, WITH PREDICTABLE RESULTS.
SUICIDE, 10 WERE MURDERED, AND 66 DIED OF AIDS. THOSE NUMBERS ARE EVEN MORE DISTURBING WHEN WE REMEMBER THAT MANY JAIL INMATES ARE HELD AWAITING TRIAL; MANY ARE MENTALLY ILL AND AWAITING TRANSFER TO HEALTH FACILITIES; AND MANY ARE JUVENILES AWAITING TRANSFER TO JUVENILE AUTHORITIES. BUT IN 1988, FIVE OF THOSE JUVENILES AWAITING TRANSFER DIED IN JAIL. IF THEY HAD LIVED, THEY WOULD HAVE JOINED THE MORE THAN 80,000 JUVENILES HELD IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE JUVENILE FACILITIES.
THE RESULT OF OUR NATIONAL AND LOCAL REACTION TO CRIME HAS BEEN THE DISASTROUS OVERLOADING OF OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, FROM THE PRISONS TO THE COURT CALENDARS TO THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. BUT LOCKING UP MORE PEOPLE FOR LONGER TERMS HAS HAD NO VISIBLE EFFECT ON THE CRIME RATE. THE SYSTEM IS NOT WORKING AS IT SHOULD. PRISONS AND JAILS CONTINUE TO BE REVOLVING DOORS. PRISONERS CONTINUE TO LEARN NO SKILLS. AND WE CONTINUE TO PAY AN EVER HIGHER PRICE FOR A CONSTANTLY DECREASING LEVEL OF SECURITY.
STATE OF MICHIGAN-REFLECTING WHAT WILL HAPPEN ON A NATIONAL SCALE-THE PRISON POPULATION IS PROJECTED TO INCREASE 64 PERCENT FOR THE FIVE-YEAR PERIOD 1989 TO 1994. TODAY THE PRISONS, JAILS, AND JUVENILE FACILITIES IN THIS NATION HOLD IMPRISONED ALMOST ONE MILLION PEOPLE. OUR PRISONS ARE ALREADY SO PACKED THAT MORE THAN 40 STATES ARE UNDER LITIGATION RELATED TO OVERCROWDING OR UNCONSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS OF CONFINEMENT. BUT IN FIVE YEARS, THAT NUMBER WILL REACH 1.5 MILLION. AND IN TEN YEARS-BY THE YEAR 2000-WE WILL HAVE TWO MILLION PEOPLE INCARCERATED.
LOOKING TOWARD THE TURN OF THE CENTURY AND EVEN FURTHER OUT, SOME OTHER PROJECTIONS CAN BE MADE.
2000 AS THE LAST OF THE BABY BOOM POPULATION MOVES INTO THEIR MID- THIRTIES. THE TREND IS ALREADY DEVELOPING. SINCE THE EARLY 1970s, ARRESTS FOR WHITE-COLLAR CRIMES HAVE INCREASED UP TO 90 PERCENT. AND NEW KINDS OF WHITE-COLLAR CRIMES ARE SEEING THE LIGHT OF DAY AS WE INTRODUCE NEW AND MORE SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGIES. COMPUTER VIRUSES ARE A PERFECT EXAMPLE.
AS WE INCREASINGLY BECOME AN INFORMATION ECONOMY, AND OUR EMPLOYEES SPEND THEIR TIME MANIPULATING DATA RATHER THAN WIDGETS, THE VALUE OF KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION GROWS ENORMOUSLY. THEFT OF TRADE SECRETS—FORMULAS, PROCESSES, DIAGRAMS, MARKETING PLANS, NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENTS, AND REPORTS ON RESEARCH IN PROGRESS— WILL ALSO GROW AS THE VALUE INCREASES.
COMMITTED BY WOMEN. BETWEEN 1971 AND 1982, ARRESTS OF WOMEN FOR LARCENY, AUTO THEFT, BURGLARY, AND ARSON WENT UP BY MORE THAN 50 PERCENT. AND BETWEEN 1983 AND 1988, THE NUMBER OF FEMALE INMATES IN OUR JAILS ALMOST DOUBLED.
THAT TREND WILL CONTINUE AS MORE WOMEN MOVE INTO THE WORK FORCE AND ARE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT MEN HAVE ALWAYS HAD.
WE WILL HAVE NOT ONLY MORE FEMALE OFFENDERS, BUT ALSO MORE ELDERLY OFFENDERS. WITH THE END OF MANDATORY RETIREMENT, MORE SENIOR CITIZENS WILL KEEP WORKING, AND MANY WHO HAVE RETIRED ARE ALREADY BEING DRAWN BACK IN BY THE SHORTAGE OF TEENAGE WORKERS IN SUCH PLACES AS FAST-FOOD RESTAURANTS.
CRIME. AND SINCE CRIMINALS ARE RECEIVING HARSHER SENTENCES AND THE LONGEVITY RATES KEEP INCREASING, WE WILL HAVE AN AGING INMATE POPULATION. THAT WILL CREATE THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL MEDICAL SERVICES AND PERHAPS EVEN SEPARATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES DESIGNED FOR SENIOR CITIZENS.
TAKEN TOGETHER, THE TOTAL COST OF OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY WILL BE MORE THAN $100 BILLION A YEAR.
GIVEN THIS BRIEF PICTURE OF CRIME IN AMERICA, WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?
THE FIRST THING WE HAVE TO DO IS TO STOP DEPENDING ON THE POLICE, OR THE COURTS, OR THE JUVENILE AUTHORITIES, OR THE WARDENS, OR THE PAROLE OFFICERS TO DO OUR JOB FOR US. THEY CAN’T. THEY ARE UNDER- STAFFED, OVERBURDENED, AND STRUGGLING JUST TO KEEP THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM FROM TOTAL COLLAPSE.
AND TOO SOPHISTICATED FOR US TO EXPECT THAT THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM CAN HANDLE THE PROBLEM WITHOUT HELP.
PROTECTING OURSELVES FROM CRIME IS ULTLMATELY OUR RESPONSIBILITY. WE CANNOT SIMPLY PASS IT ON LIKE AN UNPLEASANT CHORE, THE WAY WE MIGHT ASK SOMEONE TO TAKE OUT THE GARBAGE. IT IS A DUTY WE OWE TO OUR FAMILIES, TO OUR EMPLOYEES, AND TO OUR COMMUNITIES. THAT RESPONSIBILITY CANNOT BE ESCAPED BY LAYING THE BLAME FOR CRIME AT THE DOORSTEP OF THE POLICE, OR BY COMPLAINING ABOUT LENIENT COURTS. IT IS A RESPONSIBILITY WE MUST ACCEPT, AND IT IMPLIES MORE THAN MERELY SUPPORTING HIGHER BUDGETS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT.
OUR PEOPLEMARK OFFICE HERE IN HOLLAND DID A SURVEY LAST WEEK ON DRUG TESTING. THEY ASKED APPROXIMATELY ONE-HALF OF THE AREA MANUFACTURERS WITH MORE THAN 100 EMPLOYEES IF THE JOB APPLICANTS WERE TESTED FOR DRUGS. AN AMAZING 24 OUT OF 25 SAID YES. TWENTY-ONE OF THE COMPANIES CURRENTLY HAVE A REHABILITATION PROGRAM FOR DRUG OR ALCOHOL ABUSE. AND 12 WOULD CONSIDER USING PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS OR POLICE OFFICERS TO STOP DRUG ABUSE IN THE WORKPLACE. ANOTHER EIGHT SAID IT WOULD DEPEND ON THE SITUATION.
THOSE ARE EXACTLY THE KINDS OF POSITIVE, PROGRESSIVE, PRO-ACTIVE MEASURES NEEDED IN THE WAR AGAINST CRIME. THESE COMPANIES HAVE TAKEN IT ON THEMSELVES TO ENSURE THAT THEIR EMPLOYEES HAVE A SAFE WORKPLACE.
HERE.
WHAT IS NEEDED IS A COMMUNITY RESPONSE. A COMMUNITY PROGRAM. A COMMUNITY SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF CRIME.
WHO CAN BETTER MAKE THAT RESPONSE, BUILD THAT PROGRAM, CREATE THAT SOLUTION THAN THE BUSINESS LEADERS OF THIS COMMUNITY? YOU HAVE THE SKILLS, THE RESOURCES, THE UNDERSTANDING, THE ORGANIZATIONAL TALENT, AND THE LEADERSHIP ABILITY TO MAKE THE HOLLAND/ZEELAND AREA A MODEL FOR THE NATION.
AND YOU HAVE THE INHERENT ADVANTAGES OF A COMMUNITY WITH A STRONG ETHNIC HERITAGE AND DEEPLY HELD TRADITIONAL VALUES.
INVOLVE THE CREME PREVENTION UNIT OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, PRIVATE CITIZENS, NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS, SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, SENIOR CITIZEN HOMES, FACTORIES, SHOPPING CENTERS, SERVICE CLUBS, THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, AND EVERY OTHER ORGANIZATION THAT COULD USEFULLY BE INVOLVED.
CRIME PREVENTION DOES NOT IMPLY VIGILANTE ACTION, OR TURNING THE COMMUNITY INTO A MIDWESTERN VERSION OF THE FAMOUS DODGE CITY. IT DOES MEAN MAKING SAFETY AND SECURITY A PRIORITY, AND THAT MEANS TIME, ENERGY, AND RESOURCES. IT ALSO REQUIRES AN AGGRESSIVE, PRO-ACTIVE STANCE AGAINST CRIME.