Forty-two percent of Massachusetts residents say they would be more likely to vote for a state representative who supported life imprisonment over the death penalty. Only sixteen percent said that such a position would make them less likely to vote for that candidate. The death penalty is not a deterrent. Almost all studies have shown that the death penalty does not deter the murder of civilians 5 or of police officers. The few studies indicating a deterring effect have been severely criticized for their methodology.
Most police chiefs prefer alternative methods of crime control over the death penalty.
Thirty-one percent believe the way to reduce crime involves curtailing drug abuse. Seventeen percent believe a stronger economy is needed, while ten percent desire more law enforcement officers. Only one percent believe expanding the death penalty will deter crime. The rate of homicide is greater in death penalty states than is those states without the capital punishment. Massachusetts, for example, currently has the lowest homicide rate of the industrial states.