In 2016, the government allocated $31.8 billion to the Justice Department, where that money was utilized to incarcerate criminals, police them, enforce the law, and defend the interests of the United States. This not only takes a toll on the government's budget but also on taxpayers and multiple other organizations where money is being deducted in order to imprison criminals. In order to compensate for the increased budget for the Department of Justice, often taxes are increased, and oftentimes individuals spend money to prevent encountering crime. Other factors impact those who are victims of these crimes, where they are spending money on medical care, property damages, and oftentimes the loss of a steady income for their families. Areas of
urban decay, characterized by abandoned buildings and cars, unkempt vacant lots, and broken windows, tend to attract the homeless and increase criminal activity. Instead of helping to improve these areas, which can be done by communities, the areas often start out with minor offenses but often become major events. "A second factor is that increasing public concern about the safety of the streets has generated vigorous demands for more police protection and a growing public recognition of the limited capacity of many police agencies to mount an effective program of crime control and prevention. Crime seems to be getting out of hand, engulfing new neighborhoods and erupting in riotous assault, looting, and arson in the central slum areas of the big cities. A statistical report that did not show more crime under such conditions would seem puzzling indeed to the ordinary citizen. A cyclical pattern has been set in motion where the increasing public readiness to accept an accurate portrayal of the full dimensions of the crime problem meets an increased willingness to supply it. As the iceberg of crime rises to the surface of public visibility the need to bring new and more sophisticated resources to bear on the law enforcement task will become increasingly evident." The sociological impact of crime causes societies to feel unsafe and demand the government protect its people from criminals, thus fueling the mass incarceration policy within the United States. There has been a steady increase in individuals who have been incarcerated; ideally, this benefits societies, but crime has exponentially increased over the last decade due to fear. Because individuals fear living in communities where small crimes are prevalent, these areas are often overlooked, and crime rates increase. == Social influences on street crime ==