Jim Mork writes, "Send in the cops only works for certain things. It reduced the murder rate, so it was money well spent. But I don't recall a time when a socially caused problem like prostitution or drug use went away because of social coercion. There may BE a solution (not every country suffers to the same degree), but police coercion seems not to be it."
I am surprised that someone so demanding for "Exact" statistics, (and not just anacdotal information), can resort to such gross as well as inaccurate generalities. So perhaps we can show a couple that disprove Jim Mork's supposition. How about Singapore, Jim? Crime and drug use are subject to police and social coercion and they seem to have to a large degree addressed drug use and sales. How about Saudi Arabia, not much prostitution or drug use, and drunk driving is pretty much non-existent? So serious social coercion does in fact work very well if it is truly applied. Now I am not for the death penalty, so I do not much favor most of the coercion methods of these other countries. I am intrigued by the Singapore method of "restorative justice". It also conforms to Jim Mork's insistence on saving "his" tax dollars. The first five or ten times a petty drug dealer is apprehended, and found guilty take that person to the corner of the street where he or she sold drugs and apply a little rattan to the old posterior. I can assure readers that this would have a much greater "IMPACT' on the criminal and his behavior than spending several months in jail. It costs almost nothing, heck I bet people would pay to swing the old cane, but let impacted area residents do it for free. The important thing is this method would lesson the chance for the petty user/dealer from immediately entering the prison system, becoming institutionalized, and even more part of the criminal subculture. If the person has not re-offended in a year the sentence should be expunged from the record. While I often am just poking fun, the above suggestion is completely serious. The savings in tax dollars would be huge. The savings in lives would be even more dramatic. A few residents, with wet rattan canes, could give a whole new meaning to "treatment circle" for restorative justice. First time maybe have the residents sit around a circle facing the criminal and tell the drug dealer about what will be happening the next time he or she is caught. Even show pictures and get testimony from previous recipients. This has sure worked for graffiti and vandalism in Singapore! Remember folks you can never take serious anything you can not laugh at! Especially yourself, religion, or politics. Jim Graham, Ventura Village >" If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it." - Albert Einstein TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
