The author of “Why Crime Rates Fell”, John E. Conklin gave several reasons on why he believed crime rates fell between 1990 and 1999. Conklin looked at factors like the increase in the number police officers on the street, longer and harsher prison terms for convicted criminals, changes in the drug culture and firearms control. Conklin showed that all the mentioned factors played a role in the reduction in crime in the 1990s but, he also discussed the theory that the reduction in crime could have been a cyclic occurrence and like all cyclic occurrences if there is a down curve in crime rates, soon or later there will be an up-swing in crime rates. Richard Rosenfeld, takes a look statistically and economically at why crime goes up and down.
