How to Prevent Random Violence

How to Prevent Random Violence

Briefly

"But that doesn't mean that murders such as Zarutska's are unpreventable. Her killing represents a confluence of failures within the structures meant to keep people safe. The country's criminal-justice and mental-health systems should prevent exactly such incidents. But in recent years, these systems have been weakened, their efficacy deliberately reduced. No society can prevent all murders, but if these systems are restored, the prevalence of similar murders could be greatly diminished."

"Brown was, according to reporting, a frequent offender, with more than a dozen prior arrests. Those include two violent felony convictions, for breaking and entering and armed robbery (the latter while on probation for the former), and two assault arrests, including one for attacking his own sister. In spite of this, Brown was, at the time of the murder, free without bond in an open case stemming from his January arrest for alleged misuse of the 911 system."

"Each of these factors-a history of criminal behavior, an open case, a serious mental illness, and a failure to follow the rules of the transit system-was both a red flag and an opportunity for intervention, which could have stopped Brown before he killed Zarutska. Several of those missed opportunities stem from one salient fact: Brown was a frequent offender. Repeat recidivists are responsible for a hugely disproportionate amount of the"