> Dennis Plante wrote: > > The weeks request for impact statements to my community is > for a total of five (5) individuals arrested for 3-5th degree > sale of drugs on the northside. NONE of them live within a > mile of where they were arrested for their most recent offense. > > These FIVE individuals have a total of 252 PRIOR ARRESTS. I > would think this somewhat diminishes the assertion that 2% of our > population has been arested in the last decade on drug-related charges.
I think that this is a very misleading argument. Personally, I'd be more interested in their number of prior arrests for violent crimes. Sure, some prostitutes could have large numbers of priors. Does that mean that we should put them in prison for twenty years? Also, since these are arrests and not convictions how do we know that the arrests are not just harassment? I'm all for getting criminals off the streets, but I'm not willing to do it based on questionable statistics rather than creditable evidence. > Think for a moment about the drain this type of activity places > on our police department. This is exactly why the police department should be focusing on violent crime and why we should consider eliminating drug laws. > How in the heck can our judicial system continue to allow > individuals like this walk the streets w/o some sort of > incarceraton/rehabilitation? I mentioned some time ago: we should be cognizant of the link between the 47% high school dropout rate and the crime rate. I think that Mr. Plante's example is an important reason why. We should start with habilitation, not incarceraton and then rehabilitation. Michael Atherton Prospect Park Note: In my last post I was paraphrasing the mayor, not quoting him directly. REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
