In-Class Michael Moore Film

4. According to the film, why are crime rates in some cities dropping but fear of crime is rising?
Crime rates in certain cities are dropping because of police are cracking down on guns and violence around many places and some places are becoming safer than ever. Also, because now the crimes that are happening more often aren't murders or robberies, they are much less dangerous. The fear of crime is rising because that's all the news ever shows. They only show the few rare cases of murders or robberies rather than the very minor crimes that occur.


5. According to Dick Herlan, who has produced COPS and World's Wildest Police Videos, why do these shows chose to focus on arrests of people accused of petty crime rather than corporate criminals?
These shows choose to focus on petty crimes because first of all, the criminals will put up more of a fight. Most of the time, whenever you watch shows like "COPS" and what not, the criminals will most of the time act very sporadicly and violently, which definitely attracts more viewers and increases ratings. Also, the police officers usually treat the criminals very poorly if they act that way. They don't show them a lot of respect and treat them to a certain extent like animals. The difference between petty criminals and corporate criminals is that corporate criminals will get treated like members of the government. They will be shown respect and courtesy and be treated like the highest class in society, despite the fact that they are criminals. Watching that won't really make for exciting television so producers tend to stay away from those kinds of crimes and not show them on their shows. Although catching corporate criminals will do a whole lot more for society and the economy, it doesn't make for good television, which is where the petty criminals come into play.