<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/reducing-incarceration-no-prosecuting-minor-non-violent-crimes/>
"In March 2020 in Baltimore, State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby tried a similar
experiment initially prompted by the increased risk of Covid spreading in
prisons. Her office would no longer prosecute a host of minor nonviolent
charges: limited drug possession, prostitution, minor traffic infractions,
misdemeanors and trespassing. This doesn’t mean all these things became legal,
but it does mean that if you get arrested for them, you probably won’t be
locked up.
What happened? Well, no surprise, crime rates dropped suddenly. Which doesn’t
mean folks stopped doing these things — only that they weren’t being prosecuted
for them. But what’s interesting is that it wasn’t just those nonviolent crime
rates that dropped. Violent crime dropped 20 percent too, and property crime
dropped 36 percent. 39 percent fewer people overall got caught up in the
criminal justice system, which is what you’d expect if some charges are not
prosecuted. But, as in Suffolk County, it seems the reduction extended well
beyond those nonviolent crimes. This also helps reduce discrimination, as it is
mostly people of color who get caught up in the system.
This past March, after the experiment proved to be successful, it was made
permanent. When police realized these offenses were not being prosecuted they
stopped arresting folks for them — for instance, there were 80 percent fewer
arrests for drug possession. That allowed prosecutors to focus on violent
crimes instead of these misdemeanors, which, according to some research,
results in an increase in public safety.
The cops were skeptical at first. The police commissioner expected crime to
rise, but it continued to go down — even when it rose in many other big cities
during the pandemic. Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore did a follow up
study and found that of 1,431 folks who had charges dropped in this experiment
only five ended up being arrested again, which is considered pretty incredible.
Baltimore is now also following the example of the CAHOOTS program in Eugene,
Oregon, previously written about here, by directing some calls about nonviolent
incidents to the Baltimore Crisis Response, Inc., a behavioral health
organization, rather than to the police. People in crisis get help from trained
social workers instead of dealing with the police and risking the possibility
of getting locked up. The police commissioner there has since come out in
support of police not being expected to be social workers."
Via
libramoon@pluspora.com.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
