Arson - Fire for Hire

• NCJ Number: 76332
• Author(s): R Gerdau; B Hume; P Hill; L Abrams
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 0 pages
• Corporate Author: CRM McGraw Hill Films
• Sale Source: Not Available Through National Institute of Justice/NCJRS Document Loan Program; CRM McGraw Hill Films
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. This is a 27 minute, 16mm color film. Rental avaialble

Annotation

In observing the opening scene of the film -- fire trucks roaring into the congested streets of a large city -- the narrator, ABC News Correspondent Brit Hume, notes that this scene occurs 300 times in every hour of every day throughout U.S. cities.

Abstract

Intended for junior and senior high school, college, and adult audiences, the film describes the fiery death of a young man and the near-death of his fiancee in the Fenway section of Boston; the destruction of 22 buildings by arson in that same neighborhood in the past 4 years; and the efforts of the Symphony Tenants Organizing Project (STOP) to encourage neighborhood residents to stay and continue fighting. Noting that only 2 percent of arson cases end in conviction, the film describes the professional arson rings that operate in many major American cities and includes an anonymous interview with a member of such a ring. Arson rings are estimated to have cost the consumer as much as 30 percent more in total fire insurance premiums and to have cost insurance companies 2 billion dollars in 1977. The film also describes Seattle's policy of thoroughly inspecting any fire resulting in more than $1,000 worth of damage and states that the city was able to cut its annual multimillion-dollar arson losses by 40 percent. The film also discusses Senate bill 1882 to reclassify arson as a Part I crime and outlines and emphasizes the need for increased Federal funding. (Only two-tenths of 1 percent of Federal funds for local law enforcement is allocated for arson control purposes). The varied types of arsonists are described including holders of insurance policies who wish to collect money on a structure, hired arsonists, pyromaniacs who derive a pleasurable reaction from watching destruction by fire, revenge seekers, and vandals. The National Bureau of Standards reports that about 75 percent of all school fires are the work of juvenile arsonists. An instructor's guide accompanies the film. (Author abstract modified)