six people will be the victims of a violent crime at least once during their life" (p. 1). Particularly alarming to the ordinary law-abiding citizen was the sharp increase in random crimes, crimes unrelated to the identity or behavior of victims, such as drive-by shootings. Cochran et al. (1996, p. 149) report that the financial costs of crime, including property losses, costs of law enforcement, court and correctional costs and medical losses, rose from $43 billion in 1963 to $163 billion in 1993.
Changes in the Relationship between Victims and the State
At all levels--federal, state and local--the victims rights movement achieved fundamental changes in the relationship between the crime victim and elements of the state responsible for the criminal justice system. Instead of being regarded as incidental if indispensable parts of the effort to put criminals behind bars, law enforcement and victims found they had a broad area of common interest. According to Acker (1992, January-February, p. 72), numerous pu
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