What we have known throughout human history, however, is that what increases crime rates are criminals. People commit crimes because they believe it to be in their self-interest to violate the dignity and property of others. Criminals have a low view of their own dignity and the dignity of others. That’s a moral problem. Giving housing vouchers to men and women who have no moral reservations about committing crime, regardless of socio-economic status, is simply giving criminals a new place to violate others.
This phenomena was experienced when crime rates in Atlanta suburbs exploded after housing vouchers were given to many public housing residents in inner-city Atlanta. The crime rates went up not because low-income people from the city moved to new areas, because there were already low-income people in those areas. Crime increased because criminals found new opportunities to continue their criminal activity, again, because they do not value other people.
Read more: http://blog.acton.org/archives/58440-dispersing-poor-people-and-crime.html
