Leading police chiefs, including NYPD’s William Bratton and LAPD’s Charlie Beck, call for alternatives to arrests and the elimination of some criminal offenses
According to Tuesday’s New York Times:
More than 130 police chiefs, prosecutors and sheriffs — including some of the most prominent law enforcement officials in the country — are adding their clout to the movement to reduce the nation’s incarceration rate.
Asserting that “too many people are behind bars that don’t belong there,” the officials plan to announce on Wednesday that they have formed a group to push for alternatives to arrests, reducing the number of criminal laws and ending mandatory minimum prison sentences. Members of the group are scheduled to meet Thursday with President Obama.
The group includes the police chiefs of the nation’s largest cities, including William J. Bratton of New York, Charlie Beck of Los Angeles and Garry F. McCarthy of Chicago, as well as prosecutors from around the country, including Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney.
… the group, Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration, represents an abrupt public shift in philosophy for dozens of law enforcement officials who have sustained careers based upon tough-on-crime strategies.
Score a biggie for the ‘Hug a Con’ crowd.
Haven’t California’s Proposition 47, which reduced many ‘non-violent’ felonies to misdemeanors, and Gov. Brown’s prison realignment, which transfers certain criminals from state confinement and supervision to the counties, caused the state’s police chiefs and sheriffs to complain loudly that Prop, 47 and realignment have led to a significant increase in crime? And wasn’t Charlie Beck one of those complaining chiefs?
What those 130 chiefs are calling for is a Prop. 47 for the whole country, but whereas Prop. 47 reduced some felonies to misdemeanors, they are going beyond that by calling for the elimination of some criminal offenses. I suspect many of our drug laws are in their cross hairs.
Doesn’t it occur to these chiefs that the reason the crime rate today is lower than in past years is because more criminals are locked up?
Yes, it does cost a lot of money to keep criminals locked up, but reducing prison populations comes at a high cost to society - an increase in crime.
Those 130 chiefs and sheriffs are embracing lawbreakers with their proposals. It looks like political correctness trumps common sense.
2 comments:
The trend is to not hold people accountable for their actions if you can find any reason to do so.
In days gone by police chiefs were cops. Now they are mostly suits with badges and good retirement.
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