Violent Crime Costing Taxpayers Millions

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The cost of violent crime may be higher than you think. Criminologists say not only is there a potential cost of life after someone is shot, but there's also a significant cost to the community that is often overlooked.

Dr. Richard Janokowski says according to information collected from staff at the Regional Medical Center, an average of 600 gunshot wound victims are treated there each year.

"In mid-size cities with very high poverty rates, you're going to see very high trauma numbers."

A further breakdown from the University of Memphis Center for Community Criminology and Research says an estimated 60 percent of those victims cared for at The Med are uninsured.

So Janokowski says in those instances, we all end up paying.

"[We pay] in increased medical costs. We pay in increased insurance costs. In lost productivity because gunshot victims take time to recover."

When considering just the expense of immediate medical treatment, the total tab isn't cheap. Between the ambulance ride and trauma care, the per patient bill is reported to be $42,920.

"What The Med is faced with since it is the public hospital and so many of its patients don't have insurance, it can't exactly cover everything through paying patients."

Janokowski says the cost of crime places a heavy burden on The Med which is currently trying to raise an additional $32 million in funding. The Med says it needs that money to cover it capitol and operational needs.

"Do we then face issues like the med closing the emergency room because it's running a deficit?"

Overall, numbers from the University of Memphis Center for Community Criminology and Research put upwards of a $27 million price tag on medical treatment for these kinds of crime victims.

The staggering statistics represent part of the reason Memphis Mayor A C Wharton is proposing a public health approach to reducing firearms injuries. Mayor Wharton plans to unveil his plan next week.