The overall crime rate is nearly as low as it’s been in decades, but that hasn’t stopped officials from pushing draconian measures likely only to fuel mass incarceration and harm public safety, reported The Appeal. It’s time for a different approach.
Around the U.S., in states ranging from Georgia to
California and even deep-blue cities like Washington, D.C. and San Francisco,
policymakers are responding to fears of crime with draconian proposals
reminiscent of the 1990s. Among the most popular are measures to expand cash
bail requirements, reduce and/or eliminate parole opportunities, increase the
number of young people being tried as adults, and impose extreme penalties for
certain types of offenses.
The past tells us this “tough-on-crime” approach will
predictably fuel mass incarceration and increase recidivism, wasting billions
of taxpayer dollars on efforts that disproportionately damage low-income
communities of color and ultimately harm long term public safety. Unlike the
past, however, we are watching history repeat itself at a time when crime
data shows rates are actually nearly as low as they’ve been in
decades.
Politicians have portrayed these measures as necessary
responses to crime, but this ignores the mountains of research showing
incarceration to be an ineffective deterrent that may actually increase
crime in states with already overcrowded prisons. Incarceration also
yields many other social and economic harms, including racial
inequity, unemployment, generational
poverty, and poor
health outcomes, all of which contribute to a broader economic desperation
and insecurity that is antithetical to public safety.
Despite this well-documented record of failure, lawmakers on
both sides of the aisle are yet again rejecting robust investments in programs
designed to address the root causes that often lead to people’s involvement
with the criminal legal system, and instead embracing the craven, ineffectual
politics of “getting tough.”
In Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, recently signed a bill that will significantly increase the number of charges requiring cash bail in the state, while also restricting the efforts of community bail funds that seek to combat jail overcrowding. This will lead to more people being held in already overpacked and inhumane jails while they await trial. A similar effort has already been adopted in Kentucky despite clear evidence that cash bail perpetuates racial and economic disparities and harms public safety.
In Louisiana, Republican Governor Jeff Landry signed a slew
of crime bills this spring, including one that effectively eliminates
parole for most people incarcerated in the state. Another new law restricts the
amount of “good time credit” incarcerated individuals can accumulate to reduce
their sentences. Such measures do
little to encourage rehabilitation, instead furthering commitments to
spend millions of dollars imprisoning people who could otherwise safely return
to the community.
Landry also signed a bill reversing
a 2017 reform that mandated charging 17-year-olds as juveniles. Similarly, in
Vermont, implementation of a 2020 “Raise
the Age” law is at a standstill as the state’s Democratic Governor,
Phill Scott, delays applying the measure to 19-year-olds as previously
promised.
In many of the above-mentioned states, as well as Oregon and
others, lawmakers have also successfully pushed through legislation imposing
harsher penalties for multiple offenses ranging from retail
theft to “unlawful
camping” to certain drug
charges. In California,
voters are meanwhile set to consider a ballot initiative in November that would
roll back portions of Proposition 47, a 2014 measure that loosened penalties
for some low-level crimes.
Earlier this year, the council of Washington, D.C.,
supposedly one of the most liberal cities in the country, approved a dramatic
expansion of punitive measures with a bill adding new offenses and increasing
penalties for certain existing offenses. Democratic mayors in New York City and
San Francisco have also responded to crime concerns by adopting reactionary
policies of criminalization while cutting budgets for critical
reentry services. In
This approach did
not work in the past, and it will not work now. Even today,
communities across the country—disproportionately those that are Black and
brown or lower-income—are still reeling from the impacts of
misguided policies hinging on the false premise that we can police, arrest, and
imprison our way to safety.
If the goal is to build safer, stronger, healthier
communities, we cannot continue to wage war on people. The insistence on
prioritizing punishment over care only contributes to an environment of
desperation, which ultimately breeds the crime and disorder politicians
purportedly want to eradicate.
We have a
roadmap for a better path forward, grounded in community-based, health-first
strategies that have been proven to effectively promote public safety,
reduce recidivism, and boost economic stability. These alternatives to
incarceration create lasting change by supporting
people rather than criminalizing them, helping them to access the
resources they need to take care of themselves, support their families, and
lead productive lives in their communities. And this ultimately costs far less
than an enforcement-first approach, both in terms of upfront spending and the
collateral costs of blanketing neighborhoods with armed police officers.
There is still time for lawmakers to reconsider the
direction they have chosen to take us in. Americans nationwide should urge
their elected officials to work with community leaders and directly impacted
individuals to craft commonsense, restorative strategies that work best for
their communities. To achieve sustainable public safety, stability, and
wellbeing, we must address the damage wrought by the flawed, overly harsh
policies of the past. At the very least, we must not repeat those mistakes.
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