By BitcoDavid
Improving Police is a Blog site we follow. It is the creation of retired Chief David Couper. As well as the site, he has written several books on the subject of making the job of law enforcement more beneficial to the community.
Lest we forget, in 1972 we had fewer than 350,000 inmates held in our nation’s prisons and jails. Today. we have more than 2 million – a quadrupling. In Europe, many countries have rates of crimes no better than ours, yet they significantly imprison fewer of their citizens.
- The Drug War is aimed at the kingpins — big dealers. Not true. Four out of five drug arrests are for possession, not sales. And few of those arrested for drug possession have histories of violent behavior.
- The Drug War is aimed at dangerous drugs. Not true. Arrests (90% of them) are for possession of marijuana.
- The Drug War is aimed rehabilitating addicts. Not true. The percentage of drug arrests that result in prison (versus probation, community service, or addiction treatment) has caused the great increase in our prison population and also resulted in an explosion of prison construction.
I would add that the above has also added to our prison addiction problem, as well as to the prevalence of drugs as currency in our prisons.
To read more of this insightful article, go here:
http://improvingpolice.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/police-leaders-speak-out/
BitcoDavid is a blogger and a blog site consultant. In former lives, he was an audio engineer, a videographer, a teacher – even a cab driver. He is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and a Pro/Am boxer. He has spent years working with diet and exercise to combat obesity and obesity related illness.
Related articles
- Bill Clinton Joins World Leaders In Declaring Drug War Failure (thinkprogress.org)
- Can One New Film Spread Drug War Outrage Across the Globe? (alternet.org)
- Tony Newman: Connecting the Dots: 10 Disastrous Consequences of the Drug War (huffingtonpost.com)
- Why is the Possession of Anything a Crime? (activistpost.com)