On the issue of crunching numbers on systemic savings in\re the criminal justice system vs. alternative response: There have been many agencies and organizations that have studied this issue. The Council for Crime and Justice, our local Mental Health Court, etcetera...currently, Judge Hopper's Mental Health and Criminal Justice Task Force is addressing this issue locally following the Resolution reached by the Hennepin County Commissioners in March on the re-tasking of 7 Law Enforcement and Community Corrections personnel to the Downtown area to address livability crime incidence in the First Precinct. The likelihood of incarceration providing a lasting solution for addiction and Mental Illness is not very promising. The fact that the staff from District Court to Jail Staff and the City Attorney recognize the vast obstacles to incarcerating everyone with an addiction to a prison term is manifested in the various Business Plans and Key Initiatives reached. Does anyone realize how many people are in the criminal justice system in Minnesota? Please count restorative justice, County Jails, Community Corrections and Federal and State prisons...at what point will it become evident that you can't lock up everyone. It is not economically viable to do so. Again, not talking about someone with a rape or murder beef, or someone who is trafficking in large quantities of narcotics, or someone with 10 arrests...I'm talking about 4th and 5th degree possession charges, for example. It just seems like locking up all who have an addiction problem (and who are more likely to be poor than not) is not very sensible. Does anyone realize that every county jail from Todd to Benton to Stearns and Sherburne counties are stocked with folks arrested in Hennepin County...and that Hennepin county residents foot the bill? There just ain't enough space in the Work House and County Jail, period. In Foley (Benton County) for example, the Jail facility is twice the size of City Hall and larger than the Public High School...most of the inmates are NOT from Benton County. This holds true for many greater-Metro and Out-State facilities... what sort of statement does it make to have a bigger jail than a High School? What's wrong with that image? Guy Gambill (Uptown)
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