Report Card

Arditi, Lynn

REPORT CARD Lynn Arditi National Insecurity MILITARY EXPANSION, ECONOMIC DECLINE by Robert W. DeGrasse Jr. The Council on Economic Priorities, 84 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY...

...analyzed the impact of Pentagon spending on the economy and found that the costs outweigh the benefits...
...How To Rate Your Local Police should be read by those who are still unable to trust anyone with a badge...
...How, then, to judge a police force...
...Military outlays not only injure the domestic economy by perpetuating high unemployment, they divert capital and brainpower from emerging industries...
...Many variables affect local crime rates, he writes...
...The Council on Economic Priorities, 84 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011.' $11.95...
...Berryman has lived in the region for twelve years, and was the American Friends Service Committee's Central American representative...
...David Couper, police chief in Madison, Wisconsin, debunks some of the myths surrounding the police and offers standards by which to measure the effectiveness of a local force...
...What makes Phillip Berryman's report so fresh is that, unlike many studies of Central America, it rarely lapses into predictable rhetoric, offering instead some sane, sound, concrete solutions...
...Moreover, "much of the new employment generated by a military buildup goes to people who need it least"—highly skilled workers "who would have relatively little trouble finding jobs elsewhere...
...Give Peace a Chance WHAT'S WRONG IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT by Phillip Berryman American Friends Service Committee, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102...
...In discussing the use of weapons Couper takes a refreshingly nonviolent approach...
...Though optimistic, Berryman is also realistic...
...Grassroots movements for change, it notes, have routinely been squashed by the military and land-holding elites, often with encouragement from the U.S...
...The Reagan Administration must recognize that there is no real threat of communist domination of the area and that peaceful negotiations would enhance U.S...
...Military Expansion, Economic Decline, by clarifying the economics of arms spending, empowers the reader to take political action...
...A quality police agency will receive more crime reports simply because citizens are more confident in the ability of the police to respond effectively...
...That is the message of this comprehensive study, the result of two years of research...
...The presence of some technical language, charts, and tables does not obscure the report's theme: We must not stay the course...
...Despite its overall negative effect on the economy, military spending continues to rise...
...Weapons industries, he notes, create fewer jobs than most others...
...While numerous factors influence economic performance," DeGrasse writes, "America's heavier military burden seems to have stifled investment, and reduced our economic and productivity growth over the last few decades...
...economy...
...While we might have been able to 'afford' a substantial military burden during the 1950s and 1960s, the loss of skilled labor and investment from the private economy during the 1980s could cost us dearly in export potential...
...they must respect private property and civil rights...
...The Reagan Administration is, in fact, proposing the largest peacetime military buildup in U.S...
...The war machine fuels only itself, not the U.S...
...The officers should be representative of the community they serve and responsive to the citizens' needs...
...Peace in Central America," he writes, "seems to be a goal frustratingly far away...
...The result may be that a very good police agency will show a high crime rate...
...The biggest misconception about a department, Couper says, is the notion that a low crime rate means a police force is efficient...
...Government...
...The ends do not justify the means in law enforcement," he observes...
...This, in turn, places the United States in a precarious international position...
...Assessing the chiefs priorities is one way to judge the department itself, Couper says...
...3.50...
...Officer Friendly HOW TO RATE YOUR LOCAL POLICE by David C. Couper Police Executive Research Forum, Suite 400, 1909 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20006...
...history...
...This study outlines the present conflicts in Central America and provides a history of the region's struggles for power...
...There is more to police work than cops and robbers...
...security, not endanger it...
...The solution, Berryman states simply, is negotiation: Central Americans must negotiate among themselves and with the United States...

Vol. 47 • August 1983 • No. 8


 
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