crime

Living in a crime-prone neighborhood can be stressful. Researchers in Scotland have found a link with premature births and low birthweights.

Section 287(g) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, enacted in 1996, authorizes the federal government to work with state and local law-enforcement agencies to enforce national immigration laws. This can include screening detainees for immigration status and transferring potential deportees to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement custody.

Police forces across the United States use a variety of techniques to deal with situations that may involve violence. Though the wooden baton was once the only less-lethal weapon available, more advanced technologies such as Taser devices are now employed.

Neighborhood Watch programs became popular in the 1970s and 1980s; by 2000, roughly 40% of the U.S. residential population was covered by such citizen crime-watching programs. These neighborhood associations typically involve recruiting residents to participate in community meetings and various surveillance tasks around properties and common areas; a block captain and coordinator may take leadership roles and serve as liaisons to the local police.

The early lives of youth in custody in the United States are often marked by experiences with trauma, substance abuse and mental health problems. From detention and correction facilities to camps and community-based programs, the institutions that deal with such youth must address a wide variety of underlying health and wellness issues in order to help rehabilitate and properly serve them.