Post in Response to Jim Graham on Public Safety

Jul 04 02:00 UTC

Oh Jim, while I do respect your opinions I find you abysmally uninformed on
these
matters. So, let me help you out. As I know many of the leading researchers on
this stuff, personally (Uggen, Pager, Harcourt, Mauer, Love, etcetera) I can
assure
you that if I showed them what you have written here they would simply roll
their
eyes and say "who the Hell is this guy?"

First of all, Jim, stealing thousands of dollars worth of metal is not a
low-level
crime (read, Part II, other, in particular), it is a felony. When I talk about
Low-level
offenses I am focusing on the categorization within UCR data, largely, as
aforementioned, "Part II, other" crime. When I did the Decrim research here
in Minneapolis in 2003-2004 I came up with a total of 12,717 arrests involving
the homeless. I would venture that being homeless pretty much fits the
 bill
of impoverished, does it not? When I talk about this stuff it is such
Ordinances
as Lurking, Loitering, Aggressive Solicitation, Public Urination, No Camping,
Trespass, Disorderly Conduct, Public Consumption...the bulk of the 12,717
arrests of the homeless and no small part of "regular" arrests for the
non-homeless.
In 2004, Jim, of the 48,000 and change misdemeanor cases filed (with a 50%
dismissal rate) a majority of the charges represent precisely this sort of
thing.

 Now, as for the link between poverty and crime being non-existent...well,
the only authority you cite is Jim Graham...and I can assure you such an
assertion, amongst professionals,. would be dismissed outright.It is a silly
assertion that no link exists and I won't waste any time on what I take to be
common sense and well-attested in the research from multiple disciplines.

 As for "crime being lower
 during the Depression". Well, first of all, UCR data
was not used widely until after 1934 (the year it was first fielded) so we have
no accurate, tabulated criminal justice for the bulk of the Great Depression.
Secondly, we have added tons to the respective State and Local Criminal
Codes since the Depression that did not exist at that point in time. For
example,. find me some DWI cites for the Depression. Find me some citations
or arrests for Domestic Assault or some 5th Degree Possession cites for
paraphernalia. Not to mention that if they arrested loiterers, lurkers,
Vagrants
and beggars during the Depression half the damned country would've been in
jail. Jim, your comparison is patently silly and holds no water at all.

 You need to think about something here, Jim. The number of inmates in the
USA increased by over 400% since 1980, 600% for drug offenses. This is more
a reflection of the
 criminalization of behaviors that were, at earlier points in
time, not classified as criminal.

 All of the above, by the way Jim, may be buttressed by any cursory glance
at the Bureau of Justice Statistics research, freely available on their
web-site.

 The big question here is why do we go after social problems vis-a-vis a
criminal
justice response when, in many, many cases the basis for arrest might be deemed
to be inappropriate--thinking of the homeless, the mentally ill, chronic
alcoholics,
etcetera.

 My biggest concern here is that we base public policy and expend 33 billion
dollars per annum in State Corrections costs alone (Pew Center, 2008). We have
gotten to this untenable fiscal (and social) point in time precisely via the
mode of
thinking displayed here. It is not based on research or realities, but on
 perception
and personal bias. If you have a guy stealing thousands of dollars worth of
metal,
by all means, arrest that sucker. Rapists, murderers, those who commit assault
or gross property damage...lock them up, too...but the vast majority of crime
in
Minneapolis does not involve these things, Jim. In a fiscal crunch we need to
deploy
our police resources wisely...not chasing around after folks with nowhere else
to
go. It is not a solution, it fosters a wider and continuing set of problems.
The last
28 years of American History should demonstrate that clearly.

Guy Gambill
(Northeast)