CALIFORNIA’S PROPOSITION 47 IS INCREASING CRIME

Drug users who used to be incarcerated are now free to commit robberies, burglaries and other crimes

Proposition 47 was approved by Kookfornia voters in November last year. It was designed to reduce the overcrowding in the state’s prisons by reducing some ‘non-violent’ felonies to misdemeanors. Whether it puts a noticeable dent in the prison population remains to be seen, but Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer blames Prop. 47 on a significant increase in crime.

Here is an excerpt from yesterday’s Fresno Bee:

Fresno has seen a nearly 30% increase in robberies this year —380 through Sunday afternoon compared with 293 over the same time last year. Chief Jerry Dyer blamed the surge in robberies in part on a new state law that limits drug arrests.

Dyer said Fresno has seen a nearly 30% increase in robberies this year —380 through Sunday afternoon compared with 293 over the same time last year.

“We’re seeing more and more people out in our community addicted to methamphetamine and fewer consequences, especially since the passage of Proposition 47 (last November), which has made the possession of drugs a misdemeanor,” Dyer said. “A number of these people that are addicted to these drugs are not just committing lower-level offenses like burglary or petty theft, but they’re also involved in armed robberies to support their drug addiction.”

Drug users are now issued citations, Dyer said, rather than being arrested. Arrests, he said, gave police an effective tool to take addicts off the street and give them a chance at treatment. “That’s not happening, which is why we have so many empty treatment beds in Fresno.”

“I believe…the voters in California were misled regarding Prop. 47, the (idea) that these are harmless individuals addicted to drugs. As we know in law enforcement, they are oftentimes very violent, and there have to be consequences for these individuals prior to them going out and committing armed robberies,” Dyer said.

As for Prop. 47, the path to hell is paved with the stones of good intentions.