One Murder Costs $17.25 Million

A recent study by Iowa State University Sociology Professor Matt DeLisi has revealed that besides the obvious loss of human life, murder costs society an estimated $17.25 million per offense. Professor Mark Cohen of Vanderbilt University first adopted the idea of monetizing the effect of crime in the United States. DeLisi used a survey given to 654 convicted murderers and previous monetization estimates to calculate the cost of murder in terms of “victim costs, criminal justice system costs, lost productivity estimates for both victim and criminal, and estimates on the public’s willingness to pay to prevent future violence.”

DeLisi continues that both sides of the political spectrum are right and wrong when it comes to crime. He recommends that the Conservative portions of our government must give some thought to a preventative strategy to crime instead of the favored reactionary, law and order type approach. The Liberal portions of our government must realize that certain offenders cannot be rehabilitated. Hopefully, the monetization of crime will help to open dialogue in government and more funding for preventative research will be allocated as an investment in future homicide prevention.

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