Since the late 1960s state and local leaders and members of Congress from the solidly Republican South, the nation's most conservative region on crime and many social issues, have evolved from being brakes to being bulldozers on federal crime policy. The crime block grants they eventually adopted expanded Washington's reach in making, administering, and financing crime policy. In the 104th and 105th Congresses, the crime policy debate in Wash- ington took shape largely around four Republican proposals. Public Concern Keeps the Focus on Crime - Crime is sure to stay on the federal agenda. Others point out that, despite the drop in crime rates, most Americans, especially minority citizens and their children living in central city neighborhoods, remain more likely to be victimized by crime today than they were decades ago when crime first became a national issue.
Theories abound about why crime has decreased.
Others highlight shifts in drug markets, especially the demise of crack cocaine on inner-city streets. Prisoners in 1994. Beck, Allen I., and others. Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991. Brown, Jodi M., and others.