Crime: Why and What to Do?
In this July 1975 interview, Chicago Police Department media relations man Lt. David Mozee asks about curbing the upward-spiraling U.S. crime rate. Šrīla Prabhupāda replies, “If human beings are not given the facility to learn about God, then they remain on the level of cats and dogs. You cannot have peace in a society of cats and dogs. . . . The thief and murderer already know the law, yet they still commit violent crimes due to their unclean hearts. So our process is to cleanse the heart.”
Lieutenant Mozee:  I understand you have some ideas that could help us in our efforts to prevent crime. I’d be very interested to hear them.
Šrīla Prabhupāda:  The difference between a pious man and a criminal is that one is pure in heart and the other is dirty. This dirt is like a disease in the form of uncontrollable lust and greed in the heart of the criminal. Today people in general are in this diseased condition, and thus crime is very widespread. When the people become purified of these dirty things, crime will disappear. The simplest process of purification is to assemble in congregation and chant the holy names of God. This is called  sankīrtana  and is the basis of our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. So, if you want to stop crime, then you must gather as many people as possible for mass  sankīrtana . This congregational chanting of the holy name of God will dissipate all the dirty things in everyone’s heart. Then there will be no more crime.
Lieutenant Mozee:  Do you have any feelings about crime here in the United States as opposed to the crime in your own country of India?
Šrīla Prabhupāda:  What is your definition of crime?
Lieutenant Mozee:  Any trampling on the rights of one person by another person.
Šrīla Prabhupāda:  Yes. Our definition is the same. In the  Upaniṣads  it is said,  iśāvāsyam idam sarvam : “Everything belongs to God.” So, everyone has the right to utilize whatever is allotted to him by God, but one may not encroach upon others’ property. If one does so, he becomes a criminal. Actually the first crime is that you Americans are thinking this
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