A crime summit, which finished Wednesday, included presentations from experts, local law enforcement officers and administrators of various state agencies. They floated ideas ranging from school education to community involvement.
The Department of Corrections estimates Alaska’s prison population will exceed prison capacity in 2015, and costs continually rise.
“We can’t just keep building prisons,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Hollis French, D-Anchorage. “I am still a prosecuting attorney at heart. I was a prosecuting attorney for six years. I am perfectly OK with sending deserving individuals to prison for longs periods of time, but we ignore these costs at our peril.”
The worry often was repeated by state corrections officials who testified. Deputy Commissioner Carmen Gutierrez said the state must combat the causes of crime and take a serious look at reducing recidivism instead of spending so much on dealing with criminals.
“We’re not going to arrest our way out of this problem,” she said, “and we’re certainly not going to incarcerate our way out of this problem. ... For every facility we build we’re not building a high school — or committing precious resources to higher education — or whatever high priorities we have as a state. It’s really time to see how we can do things smarter and more effectively.”
While the summit focused on enforcement, cutting recidivism and finding savings in the corrections system, the event began with a presentation on the benefits of early education.
Washington state Institute for Public Policy Senior Research Associate Annie Pennucci discussed the impact early education has on dropout rates, education and crime rates later in life, based on results from long-term studies.
“The evidence is that early childhood education consistently improves outcomes over many years,” she said. “In terms of crime, rates are reduced by 20 percent.”
Pennucci said the cost of providing early education to low-income students, who show the highest crime and dropout rates later in life, is on average $7,295. That returns more than $22,000 for the individuals, taxpayers and others. Besides increased earnings for individuals who benefited from the early education, the programs saved money through lower crime and victimization rates, lower child abuse costs and lower legal fees, she said.
Gathering the political will to make investments that won’t pay but provide returns to the system for at least a decade is difficult, she said.
“Early childhood age education breaks even after they exit high school,” she said. “When you think about early childhood investment, you’re making a long-term investment, and you’re not seeing a payout until they’re adults or at least until they’re of crime-committing age.”
Pennucci said budget woes are forcing Washington state to look for savings wherever it can, but the program has survived through many rounds of deep cuts.
Many presentations during the past two days reported on studies of what prevents young people from entering a life of crime and criminals from returning to crime. Solutions ranged from community involvement to good jobs to in-school support.
The ideas, backed by proven numbers, struck a chord with many of the senators. Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, said the high rate of violence against women in Alaska shows the state hasn’t solved its problems; new ideas might reduce crime.
“On the bright side, I think we’re starting to take up a more holistic look at the problems that exist. I think that’s what we need to do as a state,” he said. “I’m heartened that we’re starting to look evidence-based solutions, instead of locking up people and throwing away the key.”
From what I've been seeing for the past years, they're doing exactly the opposite of saving money.
Indeed! And your “plenty of ways to deal with drug attics/abusers” puts them back on the streets so they can kill another family behind the wheel, or steal to buy drugs. It’s NOT working.
Again, sometimes jail is simply necessary to protect the innocent public from people who won’t or can’t be reformed.
If you won’t control YOURSELF, the GOVERNMENT has to control you.
Otherwise anarchy reigns. Have a nice day.
Failure.
Real Christian like. More like the early Puritans who burned people, whipped people, tortured people, all who didn't "control" themselves the way the Puritans deemed correct.
Sounds nice in theory. Doesn’t work in PRACTICE. A drunk or drug-altered woman has a wild night, gets pregnant, doesn’t have enough self-control to avoid s_x while under the influence, so neither does she have enough self-control to stop drinking or doing drugs while pregnant. The state doesn’t have a clue she even needs to “be held accountable” until the baby is born and found to be permanently disable with FAS. Child is taken away, but is affected for life.
Your proposed way of dealing with “holding adults accountable” isn’t working.
What is the state to do to protect unborn children from mothers like this? Educating them on the damage they are doing doesn’t work for those lacking self-control.
God says: "For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.” Romans 13:3-4
Forgiveness isn’t the issue.
Your way of dealing with drug attics puts them back on the streets so they can kill another family behind the wheel, or steal to buy drugs, or abuse another woman, or beat up or neglect some child.
Sometimes jail is necessary simply to protect the innocent public from people who won’t or can’t be reformed.
Who in their right mind thinks he can rule another mans life better than he can himself? These folks have no idea what the responsibility of government is.
No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him. Thomas Jefferson
Yeah, but what did he know?
Today it is common for employers to require drug testing. Have you ever wondered why? It is for safety and to get a lower insurance rate.
While working as a foreman on many jobs I have had workers come to me and refuse to work with dopers because of the safely hazards they cause. Dope stays with you. It is not like drinking a couple of beers at night. Dopers are high continually and are a risk to others, especially in the construction industry.
Furthermore, dope is often mixed with other drugs like PCP or angel dust. The lack of control of who buys and distributes this stuff leads to drugs that are a concoction of God only knows what. No, dope should not be legalized.
Just because I think drugs should be legal doesn't mean I do them, and I certainly don't see a problem with restricting people that do from certain employment.
But filling prisons with dopers just means they are getting a free meal and free place to stay from the rest of us.
And another thing I would like to know is what "typically" is the suspected/diagnosed rate of prisoners with some form of mental defect.
They took God out of the schools, brainwashed little Johnny that he evolved from a bubbling slime lump, and fed him a Hollywood diet of lust, violence, and pleasure at others' expense -- thus you have reaped what you see today.
The framers of this country knew that America would be blessed for as long as the majority of Americans were self-governed by the law of God in their hearts.
"America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” -- Alexis de Tocqueville
Hollis take note! You will need MORE prisons, because as your Progressive athiestic policies continue to corrupt more minds, their hearts are no longer self-regulated. Man must either control himself, or the state will have to control him.
And sorry, snow_ball, I don't think Jesus would be building more prisons, so if you're preaching the Bible, don't forget that Jesus was more into forgiveness than punishment. ("Let those without sin..." "Forgive seventy times seven..." "Love thine enemies..." etc..) All you "tough on crime" Christians who advocate tortuous conditions for the illness of drug addiction actually preach the opposite of what the "Prince of Peace" and "Lord of Love" stood for. Jesus would never put millions of people in solitary confinement for weeks, months, years, and decades for anything. He even forgave his own murderers as He was dying! So stop using God's name for your own mean-ass purposes to support heinous acts of torture that Jesus would NEVER SUPPORT!
If people choose to use drugs, engage in prostitution, etc., as long as everything involves consenting adults, it should not make them criminals.
I choose to avoid those vices, but it is a choice that doesn't affect others, and should not get people sent to prison.
I wonder how much we could save if people were not piling up in prisons on drug charges.
This idea that booze and drugs "doesn't affect others" is a HUGE Liberal lie! Children's brains are PERMANENTLY (that means -- "for LIFE") damaged by mothers who took drugs or drank booze while pregnant. Those children are usually handicapped in some way which either makes it difficult for them to hold a good job, study through college, or have decent marriages.
Also, I don't care if you made heroine and other illegal drugs legal -- being addicted to these drugs generally screws up a person's work ethic and ability to be reliable. And those who are NOT employed STILL have such a hunger for their "fix" that they WILL get their money from stealing from the rest of us to satisfy themselves... more crime. If you want to support doctor-administered anti-depressants, that's one way some people deal with their problem. But to open up availability by legalizing drugs is NOT without much harm to others.
I am pretty sure I said "consenting adults". Children (in the womb or not) are not adults, and their parents should be held accountable for endangering them. But you don't have to ban drugs to hold people accountable for their actions while on them.
They made a choice to do a drug, and should be held accountable for anything they do while on that drug.
As for reliability at jobs... that shouldn't be a reason to ban drugs. It should be a reason to fire people.
There are PLENTY of ways to deal with drug addicts / abusers without sending them to jail. And jail rarely solves the problem, it just compounds it.
Legalize Marijuana
What is needed is a concerted effort to improve young people’s chances of graduating High School and going on to post secondary training so they can make a living.
I think New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has found the solutions because they are working in NYC.
His first two of six solutions are:
•Loan Forgiveness: To attract great new teachers, the City will pay off up to $25,000 in student loans for those who graduated in the top 25% of their college class and come teach in our schools.
•Merit Pay: To retain the best teachers, the Mayor announced a proposal to increase the salaries of those who are rated highly-effective for two consecutive years by $20,000.
•Opening Successful Schools: The City will continue to phase out failing schools and open 100 new schools over the next two years, including 50 new charter schools, by asking successful charter school operators already in the city to expedite expansion plans and other high-performing charter operators to come to New York.
•College and Career Readiness: By this spring, every public school student will have completed new study lessons in both Math and Literacy.
•Expanding School Choice: The City will continue creating new partnerships with private and nonprofit partners, such as a new Software Engineering Academy in Union Square.
•Financial Aid: The City will help students claim their federal financial aid for college, and promote the NYS Dream Act so children who were brought here illegally can apply for State-sponsored college aid.
I will add two more solutions.
1. Use about $135 from each PFD check to fund a $10,000 scholarship for each graduating HS student that can be used for going to college or a trade school.
2. Revise the tenure program so teachers are evaluated using a grading system of A through F and grant tenure only to those teachers deserving tenure.
There is no better place to invest for our future than to invest in the education of our children.
I tend to agree with you up until the point that you say "If you don't think drinking and driving is OK, then don't do it either!"
Drunk driving is not always a victimless crime and should not be treated as such.
Just my 1 1/2 cents. I know it aint worth even that.
The drug war itself is more of a crime than the crime it alleges to fight. "The two enemies of the People are criminals and the government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so it does not become the legalized version of the first." Thomas Jefferson
I agree with the previously made comment about legalizing drugs. Among other things, that would free up expensive prison space for violent criminals who should be serving their full sentences.
Spending more money on early education sounds like a great solution, but we have increased spending on education in the past and the results of that increased spending don't seem that encouraging. We have more violence against women now than before, more exploitation of children, and more gang violence.
I'm not convinced that more money for public education is the answer.